'A real bargain' - International coach delivers gushing verdict on Birmingham City's newest star

Birmingham City have unearthed a bargain of Premier League potential by tempting Juninho Bacuna from Glasgow Rangers to St Andrew’s.

That’s the opinion of Erwin van de Looi, the coach who played a pivotal role in discovering, developing and then realising the asset that is Blues ’ latest midfield toy.

So far Bacuna has played six games for his new club - scoring one goal, providing two assists and creating many more chances and in a glut of loan players every so often you have to remind yourself ‘Bacuna is actually ours’.

After seasons and seasons of prosaic central midfielders the 24-year-old does at least one thing in every game, a drag back, flick or outrageous pass, to catch the eye and to elevate himself above everyone else on the pitch.

According to van do Looi it has always been thus - and he should know.

The Netherlands Under 21 boss has known Bacuna since he was a child, first coaching his brother Leandro as U21 manager at Groningen, then bringing the younger sibling through and eventually handing him his Eredivisie debut in February 2015.

A few months later van de Looi would entrust the 17-year-old with the task of seeing the Green and White Army over the line and to the first ever Dutch Cup final victory.

“I have known him for a very long time,” van de Looi told BirminghamLive. “When I coached Leandro we played in the afternoon and every time we played Juninho was there with his parents, always on the sideline dribbling, playing football and watching his older brother - a little bit.

“He was also in the youth at Groningen from a young age and everybody knew Juninho was better than Leandro – that was the general opinion, so we expected he would be in the first team eventually and that happened.

“His family