Birmingham City transfers: Chris Davies sets target and potential exits before deadline
Signing a new left-back is the primary target for Chris Davies and Birmingham City’s powerbrokers before the end of the transfer window.
Blues are light at left-back due to Lee Buchanan’s season-ending injury and would ideally like to sign a competitor to Alex Cochrane to aid their promotion charge. Jostling with Cochrane, who has made 29 starts this campaign, isn’t likely to be an attractive prospect for many players but Blues are fortunate to have several right-backs who can operate on the opposite flank in the event that Davies doesn’t get his wish.
“We have been looking for cover in that left-back position,” Davies told BirminghamLive. “I think we’re in good shape generally. There’s one or two conversations to be had with players who need a bit of game time and exposure elsewhere. That’s something that might happen but there’s nothing that will affect us too much.
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“With Grant (Hanley) and Kieran (Dowell) coming in we’re already stronger than we were when we went into the window and I always think any club at any level, the objective going into a transfer window is to come out of it in better shape and I think we are doing that.”
The final days of the transfer window could bring a few exits. Japanese winger Ayumu Yokoyama has been used sparingly by Davies to date and hasn’t started a League One match. It is understood that Blues have fielded enquiries to take the 21-year-old flier on loan.
Alfie Chang could potentially depart on loan, too. The midfielder hasn’t been seen since a surprise cameo in the FA Cup victory over Lincoln City following 17 months on the sidelines recovering from a serious knee injury.
“He’s good, he’s been training, there’s a game tomorrow that he’s going to be involved in,” Davies said of Chang. “There’s talk of options there for him but after a long-term injury there’s no rush from our point of view. He does at some point need to go and get some games under his belt but the main thing after such a big injury is can he get going again and it looks promising at this stage.”
The future of Romelle Donovan is less clear-cut. The 18-year-old has been playing for the under-21s after being sent back from his loan by Burton Albion and thus far a resolution hasn’t been found. As things stand, Donovan will see out the season with the under-21s with no route back into the first team fold at Blues.
