Mikael Kieftenbeld can tell Juninho Bacuna what it takes to win the hearts of Birmingham City fans

In May 2015 a 17-year-old Juninho Bacuna came off the bench to help Groningen, the club that developed him, win the first piece of silverware in their history.

Two goals from former Birmingham City player Albert Rusnak gave his team the Dutch Cup and a 2-0 victory over PEC Zwolle.

By that time, winner’s medal notwithstanding, Rusnak’s star was already on the wane, he had left Manchester City and his underwhelming loan at Blues was but an entry on his CV.

However, Bacuna’s was very much on the rise, a sensationally gifted young footballer who seemed to have the world at his feet.

And in many ways, more than six years on, the description still stands – Bacuna’s is a talent still waiting to be fulfilled.

Three years at Huddersfield confirmed both his ability to perform extraordinary feats of skill at Championship level, whilst also containing frustrating periods of questionable appetite for the battle.

He could be tenacious but he could also check out. In body a Premier League player, if not always in mind.

Bacuna’s record of 11 goals and nine assists from 81 league games is good – as is his fitness record which shows he is rarely injured.

His quick feet and ability to find team-mates would stand out in a Birmingham City midfield so long denied a good ball manipulator.

A tendency to dwell in possession is something that Lee Bowyer would have to coach out of him, in the way Jobe Bellingham has responded to such feedback. If he learns to keep it simple-ish, while throwing in the odd slice of the unexpected, he could be a superb signing.

He is young, offers the prospect of added value and is the kind of transfer Craig Gardner says he wants to make to rebuild Birmingham City’s squad. It is an imaginative piece of business.

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