Birmingham City to cancel loan and make Romelle Donovan transfer decision
Romelle Donovan has returned to Birmingham City early after his loan spell at Burton Albion failed to get going.
The precociously talented teenager has returned to Blues to train with their under-21s after repeatedly being overlooked by Brewers boss Tom Hounsell and his predecessor Mark Robinson. Donovan, who celebrated his 18th birthday last week, has only made nine appearances for Burton and just one start in League One.
Donovan netted his first professional goal on his last appearance for the Brewers, a 5-2 win over Northampton Town in the EFL Trophy, but he wasn’t rewarded with more opportunities in the league. As a result, the decision has been taken for him to return to Blues for the time being.
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While Donovan is still eligible to feature for Burton, his loan is expected to be formally cut short in the January transfer window. The attacking midfielder featured for Blues’ under-21s as a substitute in their 8-1 defeat to Burnley on Tuesday.
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Blues manager Chris Davies said: “He’s back in the building and played for the 21s. It was a mutual decision because it’s in the best interests of the player for him to come back here for now.
“He’s training with the under-21s and he’s played a game. We will assess it in January what the plan is for him moving forward.
“With Romelle re-joining the club, it’s a case of him readjusting, getting some games, settling down again after that experience and we will see where we are with the first team squad here and make a decision in January.
“The big picture for Romelle is that he’s still a young player, still developing. Can he have a big future? Absolutely. It’s week by week at the moment and we’ll assess it in January.”
