The mood has quickly switched around at Birmingham City following the appointment of Tony Mowbray to replace Wayne Rooney.
Birmingham have seen an instant upturn in form on the pitch while their fortunes off the field have improved with the signings of Andre Dozzell and Paik Seung-Ho.
It doesn’t look as though Tony Mowbray is finished there in the transfer window, however, with only a few more days left to get deals done, the Blues are expected to be busy until the deadline.
Birmingham City News spoke exclusively to HITC Football’s new transfer insider Graeme Bailey to get the lowdown on everything going on at St Andrew’s.
Mowbray really wants Alex Pritchard
The Blues are very close to completing the signing of Alex Pritchard on a permanent deal from Sunderland.
Pritchard, who played under Mowbray at the Stadium of Light, made himself unavailable for selection for Saturday’s match against Stoke City to force a move out of the club.
Now it appears the Blues are close to finalising a deal with Sports Illustrated reporting that a nominal £100k fee has been agreed. We asked him about his thoughts on Pritchard.
“The main one for Birmingham City is Alex Pritchard. They’re really trying to get him in. Tony Mowbray likes him a lot.”
Paik Seung-Ho
The Blues announced the signing of midfielder Paik Seung-Ho yesterday.
A former Barcelona academy graduate, the 26-year-old returns to Europe after three years at Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.
The 15-cap South Korea international, who scored a cracker against Brazil at the 2022 World Cup, looks like a promising signing for the Blues.
We asked about how pivotal he would be to Birmingham and his importance to Mowbray’s midfield.
“He’s a huge signing. He’s really one to watch, he [Mowbray] tried to sign him at Sunderland. He will be a huge player for Birmingham.”
Jordan James future
Jordan James’ future has been a huge topic of discussion throughout this window.
Birmingham have already turned away multiple bids from Serie A side Atalanta for the 19-year-old, who has scored six goals in 26 Championship appearances this term.
It appears, though, that more clubs – including Wolves and Crystal Palace – are interested in the Blues academy graduate. We asked about the likelihood of him departing so late on in the window and the transfer figure clubs will need to cough up.
“As it stands, I think he stays. I don’t think anyone’s coughing up at the moment and paying the price. You’re going to have to go over £10million to get him, with extras as well… If Birmingham City keep James and bring in Park as well, I think that will be a very good window.”
He also added that there could be a chance of him staying beyond the summer and he puts that down to the relationship that Mowbray has with developing young players.
“I think this James thing is very much related to Tony Mowbray. I think the hope is that James stays and then he has six months of working with Tony Mowbray, and Mowbray gets the very best out of these young players. They absolutely love working for him and I personally think that James stays beyond the summer, because I think Mowbray will work his magic on him.”
On summer spending
Although Birmingham need to get this transfer window out of the way first, supporters will be curious about their plans for the summer. We asked about whether Mowbray will be given the funds to strengthen in the transfer market and Bailey didn’t hold back: “Mowbray will be backed”.
“He knows what he wants. He won’t be on a budget. It won’t be like it was at Sunderland, he’ll be making the decisions. Sensible decisions. And we know Tony Mowbray’s like that. They’re going to back him. They’re not going to go stupid, but they’re going to be in contention next year, they really, really are.”