Blackpool boss shares latest on St. Pauli loanee following decision on Birmingham City man
Game time has been limited for both Emil Hansson and Scott Banks at Blackpool.
The January transfer window is here - which means there could be both incomings and outgoings at Blackpool.
In terms of the latter category, Emil Hansson has already departed the club after his loan spell from Birmingham City was cut short.
Unlike Bailey Peacock-Farrell and Danny Imray, who have both been regular starters when available, game time proved hard to come by for the 27-year-old at Bloomfield Road.
After being signed as a winger under Steve Bruce, the Blues man was moved into the centre of a midfield three following Ian Evatt’s appointment, but quickly found himself down the pecking order.
When he was able to feature, Hansson probably hasn’t had the impact he would’ve hoped for, with just two goals and two assists coming his way in 24 appearances in all competitions.
Latest on Banks’ future
Things have been slightly different for Scott Banks, but he has ultimately faced the same problems.
Like Hansson, the St. Pauli loanee was signed to play out wide, but isn’t a natural wing-back option and hasn’t really been considered in the centre of the park.
There have been times when the 24-year-old has made a difference, with five goals coming his way in total in all competitions, even with his minutes being limited.
Evatt states there’s currently been no talk of Banks returning to Germany this month, despite not being a regular starter on the Fylde Coast.
“I’ve not heard anything different other than Scott is staying at the moment,” he said.
“Obviously with all of these agreements there is a window of opportunity for clubs to change things, and recall.
“At the moment we’ve had no conversations to have any inkling that’s going to happen.”
Hansson prediction made
Despite being recalled by Birmingham, Hansson’s future is set to be outside of the EFL, with an opportunity in the Netherlands set to come his way.
Evatt believes the winger will be a success on his return to Europe despite things not working out in Tangerine.
“I think he’s a fantastic lad first-and-foremost,” he said.
“His attitude, and the way he acted and behaved, is first-class. I enjoy working with really good professionals, and Emil is a good professional.
“He was signed to play in a different system. We tried to shoehorn him into our way of playing, but it didn’t quite work. Mostly it was a physicality issue.
“Emil is a technical player, and in this league the technical aspect is not a strength, especially winter football. He needs to play in a technical league with a team that will have lots of the ball.
“I know he’ll do really well because a top professional.”
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