Birmingham City on transfer alert as target available for free as Leeds United stance outlined

Birmingham City could be presented with an opportunity to sign a player that passed them by in the January transfer window.

Tony Mowbray revealed that Blues were 'very close' to signing Ian Poveda but he instead headed to Sheffield Wednesday. The 24-year-old worked with Mowbray at Blackburn Rovers and a reunion at St Andrew's was suggested, but now the Colombian international is a relegation rival of Birmingham.

A report from Football Insider claims that Poveda will not be given a contract renewal at Leeds United. The report adds that he has played his last game for the Whites and will leave Elland Road on a free transfer.

Poveda has played seven times for Sheffield Wednesday since joining on February 1 and his only goal contribution to date was setting up Ike Ugbo for his opener against Birmingham last month. He was absent at the weekend as he could not play against his parent club as per the terms of the loan agreement.

The winger to date has made 80 appearances in senior football at club level, and began at Manchester City before moving to leeds in 2019. He played 14 times in the Premier League for the Whites and was also loaned out to Blackburn Rovers and Blackpool.

News that Poveda could be available on a free in the summer could mean that Birmingham could entertain the idea of signing him. The first thing they must do however if they are to have any chance of recruiting him is preserving their Championship status.

Birmingham suffered a 1-0 defeat to Middlesbrough as former loanee Riley McGree scored the only goal of the game. The match was Blues' game in hand over their relegation rivals and now they are just a point above Huddersfield Town.

Next up for Birmingham who have yet to win under interim boss Mark Venus is Watford, who sacked Valerien Ismael on Sunday. The Hornets who have only one won game in 10 matches, replaced the former West Brom boss with former Everton and Manchester United midfielder Tom Cleverley.