Birmingham City are reportedly interested in a transfer move for Newcastle United’s young midfielder, Alfie Harrison.
Blues are set to oversee yet another window of change at St. Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park under the ownership of Knighthead Capital Management and the management of Chris Davies.
The ambitious Second City club are currently 14th in the Championship, having accumulated 34 points from their opening 26 league encounters. However, they are still amongst a mass clutch of sides fighting it out for a play-off place at the end of the season, as they find themselves just seven points behind Watford in sixth.
Davies’ side continued their newfound form that was kickstarted with a statement success over second tier leaders, Coventry City, in a 3-2 scoreline at St. Andrew’s on January 4th by replicating the exact same result in their FA Cup third round success over League Two play-off hopefuls, Cambridge United, at the Cledara Abbey Stadium on Saturday evening.
As such, Bluenoses will be turning their attention to Monday night’s fourth round draw for a third successive season, having ironically been knocked out at that exact stage of the prestigious competition by Harrison’s current employers 11 months ago in a blockbuster clash between the eventual record-breaking League One champions and Eddie Howe’s Magpies, who would eventually go on to secure a place in the UEFA Champions League for a second time in three seasons.
However, as is the case during this period of the campaign, transfer activity is continuing to generate plenty of headlines in B9, with Davies looking to make the required changes that will strengthen his side’s chances of reaching the Championship play-offs for the first time since 2012.
Football League World exclusively revealed that up to eight players could depart or see their loan moves cut short, with Birmingham already confirming the exits of three players in the form of Dion Sanderson, Emil Hansson and Eiran Cashin.
Meanwhile, Davies has already addressed his previous ‘problem position’ of left-back with the acquisition of Kai Wagner from Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer, whilst Blues are also closing in on the signings of Mjallby AIF’s seven-goal forward and previous Coventry target, Abdoulie Manneh and Girona FC’s Colombian midfielder, Jhon Solis, in a deal reportedly worth around £4m.
However, it appears as though Davies and his recruitment team will not be stopping there, with reports hinting that they have their sights set on Harrison, who has impressed at youth level for Newcastle since joining the North East side in February 2024 from Manchester City.
Birmingham City plot transfer move for Newcastle United midfield prospect Alfie Harrison
As previously mentioned, Harrison initially progressed through the ranks at the Etihad Stadium, with his numbers for the Citizens’ Under-18s side also particularly impressive as they went on to record an Under-18s Premier League title success in 2023.
In just 34 appearances for that particular age group in the North West, the Manchester-born midfielder managed to accumulate 14 goals and a further eight assists before moving into the Under-21s squad, who, at the time, were managed by current Cardiff City boss, Brian Barry-Murphy, which include
After featuring just once for Man City’s Under-21s side, Harrison made the switch across the Premier League to Newcastle in early 2024, penning a two-and-a-half year contract with the Tyneside club, describing himself as an “effective player who can add goals and assists” in the process.
Since then, the Mancunian has only featured for the Magpies’ Under-21s side in competitive outings, despite being offered a brief glimpse of first-team action in the summer, when he was involved in frendlies against Brest and Espanyol at St James’ Park.
So far this season, Harrison has registered five assists in 10 games for Newcastle’s academy side, as well as making three appearances in the EFL Trophy, where he also scored against Harrogate Town in a 3-1 defeat on November 11th.
Chronicle Live first reported on Friday afternoon that Howe is expected to oversee the departures of Harrison, Ben Parkinson and Jamaal Lascelles in the coming weeks, with the Daily Mail relaying such reports less than 24 hours later.
Alfie Harrison would be an intriguing signing for Birmingham City
Harrison has clearly impressed at both Man City and Newcastle at club level, and it was reported by Sky Sports in December that two Championship sides were monitoring his situation in the North East ahead of the final six months of his deal.
However, it is a different challenge for the youngster to replicate such form at first-team level, whilst Blues, in the coming years, are hoping to be on the same level as the Geordies, as they move into the new 62,000-seater Powerhouse stadium in 2030.
Despite Newcastle still being streets ahead of Blues on that front at present, Harrison may be attracted by the prospect of a move to St. Andrew’s, with the likes of Jude and Jobe Bellingham, Jordan James and Romelle Donovan all flourishing in their respective careers after receiving strong development and guidance from Blues’ academy chiefs, whilst, in recent weeks, a plethora of academy graduates have featured on Davies’ bench amid an availability crisis within the first-team.