Walsall sign former Birmingham City defender Rico Browne

Browne has penned a one-year deal at Bescot with the option of a further year in the club's favour following a successful trial.

The 20-year-old played 31 times for the Birmingham at youth level before his deal expired at the end of last season.

CEO Ben Sadler confirmed Walsall have agreed a compensation package with Birmingham after Browne turned down a deal with the Blues in the summer.

"He turned down a deal there in the summer so BCFC rightly retained compensation rights which we've agreed with them now," CEO Sadler wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

He spent the second half of the previous campaign on loan at Rushall Olympic alongside Saddlers midfielder Ronan Maher - scoring once in 18 matches for the Pics.

He said: "I've had a good 10 days and I've really enjoyed it. The quality and the standard is really high and that's what I've been looking for.

"The plans the head coach has for the rest of the season suited what I've been looking for and I've felt really comfortable since I came in.

"I consider myself a ball playing defender. I loved to defend, I love to get aggressive but I like to take a lot of care on the ball and start attacks from the back.

"I feel I've got good qualities all-round and I can't wait to get out there at Bescot and show what I've got."

Donervon Daniels (knee) is edging closer to a return while Oisin McEntee (calf) is not too far away, but Priestley Farquharson will miss the next three months with a thigh injury.

With that in mind, Sadler said he is pleased to have brought in an extra defender and feels Browne has the ability to grow as a player with Walsall.

"Rico has been with us for almost two weeks," the Walsall boss revealed.

"He's a young player that I knew a lot about anyway. He had a good loan spell at Rushall last season in the same team as Ronan so I saw bits there.

"With the injuries that we had, it's a really good opportunity for an extra player to be with us and somebody who we think can improve with us.

"I didn't just want to bring anybody in, I wanted to bring somebody in who has got a real chance of getting better improving and will work extremely hard so I'm delighted to bring Rico in and we look forward to working together."