Upon Wayne Rooney’s Birmingham City appointment, a few names were quickly linked with a move to St Andrew’s.
Rooney‘s appointment brought an inevitable wave of transfer stories.
Some reports tipped Blues to look towards Rooney’s former club Manchester United for loan signings, whilst others have suggested that Rooney could raid former club Derby County.
And one story earlier in the season claimed that Birmingham City were monitoring a number of Derby players, with centre-back Eiran Cashin being one of them.
Rooney handed the impressive 22-year-old his first-team debut during the 2021/22 campaign and he’s since gone on to make 93 total appearances for the Rams.
And Rooney spoke fondly of Cashin following his debut, labelling it as a ‘perfect’ full debut.
Premier League clubs monitoring Eiran Cashin
Cashin is out of contract next summer, but Derby County have the option to extend that by a further year and are also working on securing his future beyond that.
And given the uncertainty, and Cashin’s impressive form this season, it seems like Premier League clubs are ready to make a move for the Irishman.
TEAMtalk recently reported that long-term suitors Brighton remain interested ahead of January, along with Rooney and Birmingham City, with the likes of Burnley, Middlesbrough, Sheffield United, and West Ham now keen as well.
The same report claims that Derby are ‘set to lose’ Cashin in January.
Can Birmingham City win the race?
The race for Cashin is certainly heating up, and given his contract situation, it seems like a move next month would come at the right time for the centre-back.
And Birmingham City look set to spend. Rooney has quickly found some flaws in the side and he’s already said that he hopes to see some comings and goings in January.
Blues could have some money to spend, but how much remains to be seen, and whether they could compete with a few Premier League teams here remains likewise.
Cashin might not cost a tonne of money but with the likes of West Ham apparently keen, it seems like Derby County could slap a fairly hefty price tag on the defender.
And that price tag would be fair; he’s a quality player with huge potential.
For Blues though, they could have a slight advantage here given the Rooney factor; Cashin knows Rooney and knows how highly he thinks of him, so it could be a no-brainer for Cashin to reunite with the manager who gave him his breakthrough.
It would certainly be a marquee signing and given Birmingham City’s poor defensive displays of late, it could be a really shrewd addition for Blues as well.