Birmingham City will be looking to add quality and depth to their squad so they can maintain a proper promotion challenge next season. The Blues have some reinforcing to do, maybe not as much as last summer, but this remains an important transfer window as they seek to improve on a tenth-placed finish by at least two places.
Promotion Ambitions
In an ideal season, Blues would be challengers for automatic promotion next term, with near-neighbours Coventry City showing you do not need to be in receipt of parachute payments to win the Championship. Failing that, they definitely need to be competing for a play-off berth, with changes to the structure of the end-of-season showdowns meaning eighth now qualifies for a lottery ticket to the Premier League.
Squad Gaps
To get there, Blues have some holes in their squad that need filling, both in terms of improving the starting XI and adding depth. Chris Davies reckons he will need about six in and half-a-dozen out, although he will also hope to retain loanees Jhon Solis and Ibrahim Osman. Both of those could be fairly pricey, and Blues would do well to scour the released and retained lists to see who could be available without a fee.
Blues reporter Alex Dicken and Football Correspondent Brian Dick sift through the free agent bucket to cherrypick their favourite.
Alex Dicken's Choice: Jairo Riedewald
I would go for Jairo Riedewald. In both games against Blues last season, I thought he was one of the best players on the pitch, particularly in that game at St Andrew's in March when Sheffield United were down ten men. I thought he almost controlled the game for them in the way they were positioned. He is a really intelligent player, good on the ball, can still drive, still has the physicality, even though he is twenty-nine now, and I think there will be a lot of Championship teams interested in him.
We do not know the ins and outs of why Sheffield United have not taken up the option they had on him; maybe he wants to do something else or go to a different league, but I think he would be an excellent pickup for Blues, particularly as we know they need players in that position. I think he just gives Blues a little bit of extra physicality than someone like Dan Neil would. Maybe not the technical quality, but I think Riedewald would be a really useful player and probably a player that Blues have not really got at the moment if we are discounting Solis.
If we are looking at Tomoki Iwata and Paik Seung-ho, I think Riedewald is a little bit of a combination of both, probably not as technical as Paik, but more technical than Iwata and maybe not quite as physical. But definitely physical enough to be a really good, useful player in the Championship. So if you get him and Riedewald and then you have got Paik and Iwata or Paik and Solis, I think Blues would be absolutely made in midfield.
Brian Dick's Choice: Dan Neil
I would go for Dan Neil. I think it would be a real statement of intent because I do think there will be lower-end Premier League clubs interested in having him in their squad, if not as an absolute starter every game, then as an option. For Blues in the Championship, I think he could potentially start forty-odd games and be a creative force in a deeper position, a bit of guile they lacked at times last season. If the Blues could win that competition that would be quite impressive and something of a statement of intent.
I think if you are a team that is aiming to compete at the top of next season's Championship, you would be foolish not to be in for Neil. He is athletic enough, he is really good on the ball, he can pop up with the odd goal as well. He has got two promotions in successive seasons with Sunderland and Ipswich and probably played more of a role at Ipswich than I thought he would initially because they have got strong midfield options. He was not initially starting but he forced his way into the XI probably because he knows how to get a team over the line.
There are going to be a handful of Championship clubs that think they can tempt Dan Neil back into the second tier, and if he wants to get to the Premier League and stay there in a project, then a club like Blues might be a good bet for him.
Which free agent would you like to see Blues sign? Let us know.
