Birmingham City are one of a number of clubs keeping tabs on George Byers’ situation at Sheffield Wednesday this summer, according to the latest reports.
It was a bitter end to the 2023/24 campaign for the Blues. Having started so well, launching into the play-off places back in October following a 3-1 win over West Bromwich Albion in the West Midlands Derby, the season fizzled out drastically for the former Premier League club.
Replacing John Eustace with Wayne Rooney proved to be one of the greatest mistakes in the club’s history as Birmingham fell off a cliff, nose-diving down the table at a tumultuous speed and ended the season firmly inside the relegation zone.
Unfortunately, Birmingham City did meet the 50-point mark, which has generally confirmed safety in the Championship in years gone by, but it wasn’t enough this time around. Hull City‘s failure to clinch a point at Plymouth Argyle on the final day of the season meant that the Blues were down, much to the dismay of the St. Andrew’s faithful.
Now, work will commence off the pitch to ensure that the squad is good enough next season to bounce straight back up to England’s second tier and avoid languishing in League One as many teams have done in the past.
One name on the club’s list is Sheffield Wednesday’s out-of-favour star Byers. The midfielder has won promotion twice in his career – at Watford in the 2014/15 campaign and with the Owls last season – and could be an option to take the Blues back to the Championship.
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The 27-year-old was no longer in the team’s plans when Danny Rohl took over earlier in the campaign so Byers was sent out on loan to Blackpool for the second half of the season where he made 16 appearances under Neil Critchley as the Seasiders narrowly missed out on the play-offs.
According to the Sheffield Star, Birmingham are interested in signing Byers this summer once he becomes a free agent following the expiry of his contract. However, the outlet are also reporting that Bolton Wanderers, Oxford United, Rotherham United and Huddersfield Town are in the running for his signature.
Writer’s View
There is some really stiff competition this summer for Byers, all from teams who could be in League One next season, although one of Bolton and Oxford will earn promotion to the Championship next weekend via the play-off final.
Byers certainly won’t be short of offers, but Birmingham City could be a really good career choice as they will have one of the largest budgets in the division next season and could comfortably win the title should they get their act together this summer.
