Manchester United agree deal to sell defender to another English side

Manchester United have agreed to let talented defender Ethan Laird join Birmingham City on a permanent transfer.

The Englishman spent last season on loan at Queens Park Rangers and made 33 appearances in all competitions – an encouraging number considering his past injury struggles – for the London outfit. However, the highly-rated right-back’s promising stint at QPR wasn’t enough to open a pathway into the senior squad at his parent club.

Towards the tail end of the last term, it emerged United have ended their plans to look for a new right-back after being impressed with how Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Diogo Dalot’s seasons turned out. Left-back Tyrell Malacia also did well in the games he was deployed at the opposite flank.

Ethan Laird completes permanent exit from Manchester United

There’s no place for a new right-back at Carrington, and with only a year remaining on Laird’s contract, United have decided to cut ties with the academy product permanently.

It is understood Birmingham, who signed Tahith Chong from United last summer, will pay £750,000 for Laird. Further, the transfer to the Championship side includes a ‘good’ sell-on clause for the Premier League giants. He has agreed to pen a three-year deal with the Midlanders.

The 21-year-old leaves United with two senior appearances under his belt. Both came under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the 2019/20 season, against Astana and AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League.

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Laird becomes United’s second sale of the summer after Zidane Iqbal’s transfer to FC Utrecht.

Ethan Galbraith, who was released earlier this summer, has also found a new club to continue his development. He has joined League One side Leyton Orient. Meanwhile, Hannibal Mejbri is attracting interest from Borussia Dortmund on the back of his brilliant loan spell at Birmingham.