Confirmed: Birmingham City sign 'big professional' after shock Wolves decision

Birmingham City have signed veteran goalkeeper John Ruddy following his release by Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Ruddy has become John Eustace's third summer signing following the arrivals of Dion Sanderson and Przemyslaw Placheta, on loan from Wolves and Norwich City respectively. Blues are also poised to sign American defender Auston Trusty on loan from Arsenal.

The goalkeeper, who turns 36 in October, has been playing second fiddle at Molineux for the past four seasons, first to Rui Patricio and then to Jose Sa last term. He made five appearances across all competitions last season, including two Premier League outings in May.

Wolves head coach Bruno Lage wanted Ruddy to stay at Molineux and continue to play the role of understudy to Sa. In May, Lage said: “I want him to stay. He’s a big professional. I haven’t given him anything because he deserved to play that game against Norwich. I gave him a chance to play because he deserves to play more. Every time he plays, he plays well. He has trained hard and has pushed Jose. Jose did a fantastic job because of John. I am happy with him.”

Wolves' hierarchy decided against giving Ruddy a new contract though, instead moving ex-Blues loanee Matija Sarkic up the pecking order. Sarkic recently penned a new three-year contract at Wolves and will compete with Sa next season.

Blues have moved on from Sarkic by replacing him with Ruddy, who has signed a one-year contract at St Andrew's. The three-time Championship promotion winner will compete with Neil Etheridge to become Blues' number one.

During his last season in the Championship in 2017/18, Ruddy kept 22 clean sheets in 45 matches and was named in the PFA team of the year.