Birmingham City are now close to a £500k signing with treatment completed

Birmingham City are closing in on another St Andrew's signing as they continue their busy summer following relegation from League One, it has emerged.

Birmingham's summer signings so far

Relegated from the Championship on the final day of the 2023/24 campaign, new manager Chris Davies and the Blues will be looking to return to England's second tier.

They have not been in the third tier since 1992, and were backed to win League One at the end of the campaign. To that end, they have been busy in the transfer market, signing seven players.

Alfie May has arrived from Charlton Athletic, and marks his arrival with a pre-season winner against Rangers, while ex-Leeds and Sheffield Wednesday shot-stopper Bailey Peacock-Farrell has also been recruited and started for the Scottish giants.

Also named in the starting XI are new signings Emil Hansson, Alex Cochrane and Willum Willumsson, while Christoph Klarer and Ryan Allsop both came off the substitutes' bench to play their part in the pre-season win. Now, they will all be joined by a new eight faces ahead of the first game of the season against Reading on August 10.

Leonard is about to sign for Birmingham

That comes as Marc Leonard is set to join the club from Brighton. The young midfielder watched a pre-season friendly in the stands and is set to complete a £500,000 move to the center of the country, according to transfer reporter Fabrizio Romano, a medical that has been completed.

In fact, Birmingham boss Davies has confirmed that Leonard is on his way to St Andrew's. “That one is very close. That will be our eighth signing in the transfer window so it's a lot of players but we need more,” he said.

“We have a lot of young players coming so it is important that we have depth. The amount of games we will play this season can reach 60 so we need a strong squad to do what we have to do. A few but he (Leonard) is graduating and that is another good player who joins us.”

Aged just 22, Leonard was in the final 12 months of his contract at the AMEX and will make just two senior appearances for the Seagulls, both coming in 2021/22.

He has spent the last two seasons on loan with Northampton Town, helping them to promotion to League Two and ensuring they avoid relegation in 2023/24, meaning he is likely to face a number of his teammates this season in Birmingham colours.