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Alfie Chang’s next step outlined as Birmingham City midfielder recovers from 14 months out
Alfie Chang is on track to return to the field before the end of the year after 14 months without pulling on Birmingham City’s colours.
Popular midfielder Chang sustained a serious knee injury in training last August which required surgery and ruled him out of the 2023/24 campaign. The 22-year-old has worked tirelessly to get back fit and recently returned to training with Blues’ squad at the Elite Performance and Innovation Centre.
While Chang isn’t eligible to participate in League One fixtures before January having been omitted from Blues’ squad, he could soon play for the under-21s. Blues manager Chris Davies has suggested second string football is the next step for Chang on his road to recovery.
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“He’s done really well,” says Davies. “Because he was out for 14 months it was different to a lot of the injuries we talk about, it’s something that takes time.
“I think he’s done a good block of training now for a month or so, the next step is bigger spaced areas and maybe some exposure to under-21s football. It’s a longer road for Alfie but he’s done very well so far and worked so hard to come back from his injury.”
Chang has made 20 first team appearances in total for Blues but might struggle to add to that tally this season. Davies has assembled an all-star midfield pairing of Paik Seung-ho and Tomoki Iwata which is backed up by Marc Leonard and Taylor Gardner-Hickman.
