Birmingham City are preparing for another busy summer in the transfer market
Birmingham City manager Chris Davies
The first summer transfer window opens at the end of next week and Birmingham City can officially start signing players for the Championship.
Blues have already confirmed three signings for July 1 in the form of Phil Neumann, Taylor Gardner-Hickman and Alfons Sampsted and more will undoubtedly follow.
In the past week Blues have been linked with Kanya Fujimoto, a left-footed playmaker who will become a free agent when his contract at Portuguese top tier side Gil Vicente expires in June.
Chris Davies had two left-footed number tens in his preferred XI last season and although Blues want to re-sign Kieran Dowell from Rangers, there are no guarantees a permanent transfer will be struck.
Dowell and Ben Davies are in limbo at Ibrox following the conclusion of their loan spells at St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park.
Rangers are yet to appoint a new manager but all the noises suggest it will be one of Steven Gerrard, Russell Martin or Davide Ancelotti. Only when an appointment is made will Dowell and Davies receive clarity on their futures.
Another two players awaiting clarity on their own situations are George Hall and Alfie Chang. The Blues pair broke into the first team when the club was in the Championship in 2022/23 but their careers have stalled over the past two years due to injuries.
They have reignited their careers at Walsall and will feature in Monday’s League Two play-off final at Wembley.
Chang, 22, is still hoping there’s a place for him in Blues’ future. He told BirminghamLive: “That’s always the hope. At the moment I haven’t thought too much ahead, I’ve just focussed on the now and these play-off games. It will definitely be something to assess over the summer and see how we go into pre-season.”
Hall, 20, has 40 Championship appearances under his belt and won the club’s Young Player of the Year award in 2022/23.
He has a year remaining on his contract at Blues. Hall said: “To be fair, I haven’t thought about next year. My focus has just been to try and help the team get promoted.”
Of the eight Blues players out on loan, Chang and Hall’s futures are perhaps the most difficult to call.
Davies has said that he doesn’t see much changing next year with regards to the loan players, but he hasn’t seen fully-fit versions of Chang and Hall.
Elsewhere, Grant Hanley is already being eyed up by another club after Blues released him. According to Football League World, Hanley is a target for Blackpool. The Seasiders finished ninth in League One last term under Steve Bruce and while they had the second best attack in the league behind Blues, they did ship 60 goals.
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