Earlier on Tuesday afternoon, we covered the latest from Sweden about Abdoulie Manneh’s move to Birmingham City collapsing.
The local media had got in contact with Mjällby AIF sport director Hasse Larsson. He seemed to be entirely in the dark over what had happened: “No, unfortunately I don’t want to (say) before we have all the facts. No, I have no comments at this time.”
Quickly after that, quotes from emerged from Jacob Lennartsson. He’s the equivalent of CEO at the Allsvenskan club, and gave a wider idea of what’s been going on at the Mjällby side of the deal.
To recap, reports on Monday stated Manneh was on his way for a Birmingham City medical. Given the drama the player has been through previously with Coventry City, Stoke City and Olympiacos, there was always a chance of trouble.
Speaking to FotbollDirekt, Lennartsson said: “We can confirm that Abdoulie Manneh has been given permission to visit another club for a potential transfer.
“At this point, we can neither confirm whether the deal will go through, nor whether it will not. As negotiations are currently underway between both the clubs, as well as between the player and the purchasing club.”
Birmingham City target is clearly well liked
What has been striking throughout the soap opera is that despite everything, the club don’t sound like they’ve had enough of Manneh. Fans of the Swedish side appear to feel similarly.
Indeed, Mjällby would be happy to keep the 21-year-old.
“Manneh is a fantastic footballer,” Lennartsson continued. “Either he will get a new well-deserved challenge in his career at another club. Or he will continue to represent Mjällby AIF in 2026. Which is also pleasing from several perspectives. We will come back with more information if there is anything more to communicate.”
The precise nature of the disagreement still isn’t clear. The likelihood is there’s at least a problem between the player’s camp and Birmingham City, and perhaps also a club-to-club issue.