Birmingham City has been very busy in the transfer market thus far, and they are currently targeting teams in League One in their hunt for a major target as they seek to the Premier League to bolster their midfield.
Four players have already been signed by the Blues since the summer transfer market opened last month. Although League One’s top scorer Alfie May’s £775,000 move from Charlton Athletic may have been the largest transfer in England’s third division to that point, the West Midlands team hasn’t spent the most money on a signing.
Emil Hansson, a winger, was signed by Chris Davies’ team from Heracles Almelo in the Netherlands for an estimated £1.5 million. The new head coach also made changes to his goalkeeping staff, bringing in Bailey Peacock-Farrell from Burnley and Ryan Allsop from Hull City.
The midfield division is one area that hasn’t seen any improvements throughout the transfer window. The previous few months have seen a lot of reports indicating that several European teams, including the winners of the Europa League Atalanta, are hoping to recruit Jordan James, a rising star, this summer. Juninho Bacuna is also reportedly getting close to leaving for Sivasspor in Turkey. In addition, Ivan Sunjic, a free agent, left the team two weeks ago.
In light of this, Davies intends to bolster his team’s shaky midfield depth this summer by using the club’s ostensibly large budget. Last month, it was made public that Birmingham City was one of several EFL teams monitoring Marc Leonard’s circumstances at Brighton & Hove Albion. According to The Athletic, Wrexham and Championship team Oxford United have joined the Blues in their pursuit of the 22-year-old, and all three teams have had discussions about a potential trade with the Seagulls.
The Athletic, however, published a follow-up story on Friday night, claiming that Brighton is prepared to sell the former Northampton Town loanee permanently this summer and that Huddersfield Town and Barnsley, two League One teams, have now expressed interest in the player.
Writer’s View
Leonard has been one of the most wanted men in this transfer window across the second and third tiers of English football following his successful loan spell at Sixfields last season where he scored five goals and recorded six assists in 48 appearances for the Cobblers in the middle of the park.
However, in spite of all of this attention, the Scottish actress is still without a new residence. Even so, Birmingham City would be remiss to not add him to their midfield, especially given his League One experience. With a meagre market value of £380,000, according to Transfermarkt, the Blues will have to contend with competition from teams like Portsmouth, Derby County, Plymouth Argyle, Cardiff City, Swansea City, Wrexham, Barnsley and Huddersfield for the young player.
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