The transfer window has entered its final week and Birmingham City still have business to complete
Birmingham City reporter for BirminghamLive and the Birmingham Mail
Deals still to be done… Blues boss Chris Davies
Birmingham City have built a squad to challenge for promotion to the Premier League with an impressive summer recruitment drive.
Chris Davies’ squad has been bolstered by 10 new arrivals, the latest of which saw winger Lewis Koumas join on loan from Liverpool, but there is still some work to do in the final week of the window.
Blues now look very well stocked in the forward positions, pending any departures, and have an abundance of depth in midfield. It is in defence where Davies could use a body or two before Monday’s 7pm deadline.
The sale of Krystian Bielik to West Bromwich Albion has left Blues with just three central defenders, while Davies has made no secret of his desire to add another left-back to the squad.
Alex Cochrane has suffered an injury of his own after plugging away for 12 months without competition due to Lee Buchanan’s injury struggles.
Ultimately, Blues are looking for ‘cover’ in defence which means that anyone coming in isn’t expected to force their way straight into the starting line-up, therefore loan moves cannot be ruled out.
Blues currently have four loan players and are permitted to name five in any match-day squad, which gives Davies and director of football Craig Gardner some wriggle room.
The versatility of Ethan Laird, who has covered at left-back in Cochrane’s absence, and Taylor Gardner-Hickman could prove useful but the latter is one of a few players who are facing up to significantly reduced game time.
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Gardner-Hickman has been an unused substitute in Blues’ last three games, while Marc Leonard hasn’t played a minute in the Championship yet. Blues need at least one of Gardner-Hickman or Leonard to stay for squad depth, but there has been rumblings of interest in the latter throughout the summer.
Blues have been helped by the fact that Alfons Sampsted is still in the building to provide some depth at full-back but Davies isn’t likely to stand in the Iceland international’s way if all the pieces of the jigsaw come together before the deadline. Sampsted staying wouldn’t be a bad thing given his professionalism.
Alfie Chang and George Hall’s situations have progressed from last year. Now fit and more confident after productive loan spells at Walsall, Chang and Hall have been able to show Davies what they can do in pre-season, but whether that will translate to a future in the Blues first team is still unclear.
Whilst Chang will soon turn 23, Hall is two years younger and has performed well at Championship level before. The problem for him is that Blues are far stronger now than they were back then.
It would be regrettable, but no great surprise if Chang and Hall were allowed to leave.
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