Buzzword led Chris Davies to Kieran Dowell as Birmingham City make pointed transfer decision
Kieran Dowell has been signed by Birmingham City to provide ‘a little bit of craft’ to unlock packed defences.
Blues confirmed the loan signing of the Rangers midfielder on Monday and Dowell should go straight into their squad for Tuesday night’s trip to promotion rivals Huddersfield Town. The 27-year-old brings a wealth of experience having played 145 games in the Premier League and Championship combined, but he also possesses the ability to create that Blues have lacked in Willum Willumsson’s absence.
Like Willumsson, Dowell is a leftie who can play off the right and the pair could even play together when the Icelandic is fit to return.
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On Dowell’s body of work and why Blues have signed him, manager Chris Davies told BirminghamLive: “At Norwich he was almost inverting off the right. They had inverted wingers and he played in the pocket. He can play as a ten. I normally play with two tens in those pockets and he can do either or. It’s a speciality for the left-footers because they can cut in and make a pass or shoot. He’s a wideman coming inside, or an eight or a ten.
“I think he can play with Willum, definitely. Willum is quite versatile, one could play off the right and the other could play as a ten. They could fit in there together.
“He has a little bit of craft. That was the word I was using when I was explaining what I felt we could do with in the final third. Through a process of elimination his name came up and I looked into it more and I was pretty happy to get that one done.”
Dowell is one of two experienced heads Blues have added to their ranks during the January transfer window. The other is Dowell’s former captain at Norwich City, Grant Hanley. It is by design that Davies has selected this transfer type midway through Blues’ promotion charge.
The Blues manager explained: “We’ve got a great three months ahead but it’s going to be testing as well. There’s going to be pressure and expectation inside the stadium. To be able to deal with that takes strong characters and the experience helps. Some players that are young, it’s not that they are not strong characters, but sometimes they don’t have the wealth of experience to cope with those situations.
“For me, my gut feeling was that if we were going to bring anyone in at this time of year, I wanted it to be players that were experienced. If they had won a promotion or played plenty of games, that was what I was looking for.
“Without even playing yet, Grant Hanley has helped us around the place with the way he trains and his behaviours – and he will play soon. I said to him today, ‘Without even kicking a ball on the pitch yet, you have improved us’. Kieran will add to that as well.”
