A key Birmingham City players is being eyed up by a Championship rival ahead of January.
Birmingham City look like they’re turning a corner under Wayne Rooney.
After that win at Cardiff City last week, Blues followed it up with an impressive performance in the 3-2 defeat at home vs league leaders Leicester City.
January promises to be a busy month with Rooney already eyeing up some changes in personnel, but one player departure he could be forced to deal with is that of Jay Stansfield.
Emerging reports have credited Ipswich Town with an interest in the Fulham youngster.
How has Jay Stansfield performed at Birmingham City this season?
So far in the Championship, Stansfield has scored five goals in 19 appearances, with two of those coming under Rooney.
He started the season in fine form and became an instant hit among the fans, with John Eustace also hailing Stansfield’s ability and versatility.
But his form, or at least his goal-scoring form has dropped off since Rooney’s arrival, with Stansfield often playing in different positions in attack.
The 21-year-old burst onto the scene last season after scoring nine and assisting seven more in 36 League One outings on loan at Exeter City, with Grecians boss Gary Caldwell describing Stansfield as a ‘fantastic’ player with huge potential.
Should Wayne Rooney be worried about a potential exit?
Given Birmingham City’s current poor form, and Ipswich’s impressive form and impressive style of play, Fulham would surely rather have Stansfield playing at Portman Road for the second half of the season.
So in that sense, Rooney should certainly be worried about this emerging story, especially with Blues then having to rely on the likes of Lukas Jutkiewicz and Scott Hogan should Stansfield leave.
It could come down to game time, though.
Stansfield might well play a back-up role at Ipswich should he move there, whereas he’s starting almost every game at Birmingham City right now.
And if Birmingham City can get a few more wins and decent performances under their belt in the coming weeks, it could convince Fulham to let Stansfield stay at St Andrew’s.
It’s certainly a worrying story though and Blues could be forced to replace Stansfield should he leave for Ipswich or another team next month.
Birmingham City are back on the road this weekend with a trip down to managerless Plymouth Argyle in the Championship; a win here could see Blues move as high as 14th.