Exclusive: Birmingham City’s three-man January signing plan revealed
Birmingham City are laying the groundwork for three January signings, sources have told Football Insider.
The hugely ambitious Championship club are exploring the market for a striker, left-back and a midfield powerhouse.
Birmingham have set aside funds for new arrivals despite lavish spending in each of the last two summer transfer windows.
The Midlands club are 13th in the division but are only five points from the final play-off spot and believe promotion is still a realistic ambition this season.
Birmingham keen to satisfy Premier League ambitions as soon as possible
Birmingham announced their plans for a new stadium back in November, with the 62,000-seater project planned to be ready for the 2030-21 campaign.
Hugely ambitious co-owner and chairman Tom Wagner is set to splash out £3billion on the new venue, while a further £2.4bn will be supplied by the government to improve the transport links in the second city.
The Blues’ latest development reinforces their strong desire to make a push for the Premier League, and there is still a feeling at St Andrew’s that they could yet realise that dream this season.
The likes of Jay Stansfield, Patrick Roberts and Demarai Gray are all top performers in the second tier, and if Birmingham can add further quality this winter, then a play-off push could yet be on the cards.
Hull City currently occupy the final play-off spot, but the nature of the Championship dictates that there will be several teams in the middle of the pack who are eyeing up a push in the second half of the season.
16th-placed West Brom are just six points away from the top six, and every club in between will feel that they still have something to play for.
Chris Davies under pressure to improve results
Chris Davies led Birmingham to the League One title last season, and most clubs would be delighted to be sat safely in mid-table in their first season after achieving promotion.
However, the level of ambition at St Andrew’s dictates that the 40-year-old is already under pressure to improve upon recent results.
Davies’ side are currently enduring a three-game winless run in the league, and that has seen them slip away from being one of the immediate challengers to the teams in the play-off positions.
The ex-Tottenham assistant must find a way to turn the team’s recent form around in the next few games, otherwise he could be sacrificed in order to try and get the promotion push back on track.