Fran was handed a new deal 5 months into stay
BIRMINGHAM City handed a new contract to Fran Villalba within months of him moving to St Andrew’s, it has emerged.
The deal, which was not announced at the time, has been brought to light by Blues blogger Almajir and means Villalba is actually contracted to the club until the end of the 2022/23 campaign – and not the current one as thought.
Villalba joined Blues from Valencia in August 2019, in a complicated move which they claimed was a free transfer and saw him sign a three-year deal.
However, he was handed a second contract in January 2020, just a few months later and after an unsuccessful first half of the season that brought only one goal in 17 appearances under Pep Clotet.
On January 27, 2020 the club announced Villalba had been loaned to Segunda Division side Almeria – with a right for the Spanish outfit to buy. He did return to Almeria last season – but only on another loan and they decided not to make it a permanent transfer after their failure to win promotion to La Liga.
He is currently still in Spain, now with Sporting Gijon with whom he will spend the rest of the 2021/2022 campaign.
However, rather than being a free agent in the summer he will remain a Blues player for at least one more year, unless they decide to sell him.
Villalba has been doing well with Gijon but they are only 15th in the table but his form and remaining length of contract could at least be a potential source of revenue for Blues.
This is not the first time a contract has not been announced by the club. In April the Mail revealed that Lukas Jutkiewicz had agreed fresh terms earlier that season without anything being placed on official club channels.
Jutkiewicz is committed to Blues until the summer of 2024.
Meanwhile, Blues youngster Adan George has taken an important step forward in his recuperation from a serious knee injury.
The teenager has been out for several months after tearing ligaments at the start of the season.
He had an operation in September and has been working his way back since.
And he has used his Instagram account to show footage of him back out on a training pitch and moving well and with the caption: “I think the grass has missed me.”
George finished last season on a high, scoring both goals in the Under 23s’ Professional Development League play-off final victory.
First team opportunities might
have been limited this season, with Blues having four senior, front-line strikers, but he would have got plenty of football at Premier League 2 level with the development team struggling for options up front.
George joined Blues from West Bromwich Albion in 2015 and has been viewed as one of the best youngsters in the Wast Hills youth set up.
As well as scoring regularly for the Development team he has trained regularly with the senior squad and made his Blues debut in September 2020.