{"id":233737,"date":"2025-07-03T04:07:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-03T04:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/233737\/"},"modified":"2025-07-03T04:07:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T04:07:11","slug":"kieran-dowell-transfer-rangers-stance-becomes-clear-as-birmingham-city-wait-in-the-wings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/233737\/","title":{"rendered":"Kieran Dowell transfer: Rangers stance becomes clear as Birmingham City wait in the wings"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Kieran Dowell spent the second half of the season on loan at Birmingham City from Rangers<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0_JS366882670.jpg\" alt=\"Rangers midfielder Kieran Dowell during his loan at Birmingham City\" loading=\"eager\"  \/>Rangers midfielder Kieran Dowell during his loan at Birmingham City<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Kieran Dowell is playing a prominent role in Rangers&#8217; pre-season preparations having returned to Glasgow following his successful loan spell at <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/all-about\/birmingham-city-fc\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Birmingham City.Link opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Birmingham City.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \"><a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/all-about\/kieran-dowell\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"DowellLink opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Dowell<\/a> and Ben Davies were important cogs in <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/all-about\/chris-davies-football-coach\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Chris Davies\u2019Link opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Chris Davies\u2019<\/a> League One title-winning team last season and Blues are understood to be interested in bringing both players back to the Second City.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">However, Rangers have appointed Russell Martin as their new manager and he has reintegrated Dowell into the first team fold in the first week-and-a-half of pre-season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Rangers play their first friendly on Sunday against Belgian side Club Brugge and Blues&#8217; eyes will be peeled to see whether Dowell is involved. All the indications thus far suggest that he will be.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Dowell is due back in the Midlands next week with Rangers due to visit St George&#8217;s Park for a training camp.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">What has Davies said?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Chris Davies wanted \u2018a bit of craft\u2019 from Dowell and the 27-year-old playmaker offered plenty of ingenuity in his 23 appearances for Blues, scoring five goals and creating another five.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">He quickly established himself in Blues\u2019 XI and started 21 times, despite joining a team that was already top of League One and progressing nicely in two cup competitions at the time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Davies has admitted that he would like to explore the possibility of bringing Dowell to St Andrew\u2019s @ Knighthead Park full-time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cHe\u2019s definitely someone I have been really encouraged by since he\u2019s come in and from my point of view I want players like that here,\u201d <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/transfer-news\/birmingham-city-dowell-rangers-transfer-31304801\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Davies told BirminghamLive.Link opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Davies told BirminghamLive.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cMy communication is always around that stuff with Craig (Gardner &#8211; director of football), squad management and planning and who I think can really help us, and I think Kieran has done really well.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cI don\u2019t know the exact context of what\u2019s happening there with him, but it\u2019s definitely something we will have to look into.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">Dowell fits the profile<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Blues are moving into the league Dowell has called home for the vast majority of his professional career. The midfielder has been promoted twice from the Championship before with Sheffield United and Norwich City and played in the second tier for Nottingham Forest, Derby County and Wigan Athletic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Chris Davies likes to operate with a left-footed number 10 drifting in from the right wing and Dowell played the position perfectly last season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">He fits the profile Blues are looking for and, crucially, understands the way Davies wants to play.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">What happens next?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Where Dowell and indeed Ben Davies are concerned, it is very much a waiting game. Both players are out of contract at Ibrox next summer, meaning this window represents Rangers&#8217; best chance to recoup some cash for the pair of them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Martin&#8217;s desire to take a closer look at Dowell could be sincere, or it could be due to Rangers not having yet signed their targets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">All the noises in the lead up to the transfer window suggested Dowell would be available this summer, but Blues are having to be patient whilst Martin makes his mind up.<\/p>\n<p>Should Blues sign Dowell permanently? Have your say <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/transfer-news\/kieran-dowell-transfer-rangers-birmingham-31598978#comments-wrapper\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"HERELink opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">HERE<\/a>Get the latest Blues headlines sent straight to your phone<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">BirminghamLive has its very own <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/all-about\/birmingham-city-fc\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Birmingham CityLink opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Birmingham City<\/a> WhatsApp community to deliver the latest headlines straight to your phone. Just <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/chat.whatsapp.com\/B9XQh6yFkASKxe76buz3SU\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"click this linkLink opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">click this link<\/a> to receive daily Blues content and breaking news. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don\u2019t like our community, you can check out any time you like. Click on the name at the top of your screen while in WhatsApp and click &#8216;Exit Group&#8217;. Read our <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reachplc.com\/site-services\/privacy-policy\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Privacy Notice.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kieran Dowell spent the second half of the season on loan at Birmingham City from RangersRangers midfielder Kieran&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":233738,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,1205,42707,748,8372,393,4884,43664,1946,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-233737","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-birmingham-city-fc","10":"tag-birmingham-city-fc-transfer-news","11":"tag-britain","12":"tag-chris-davies-football-coach","13":"tag-england","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-kieran-dowell","16":"tag-rangers-fc","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114787335932744375","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}