Birmingham City to speed up Sheffield Wednesday transfer as Sheffield United eye released QPR star

Birmingham City are reportedly interested in signing Ike Ugbo, but face the challenge of persuading him to drop in to League One.

According to transfer specialist Darren Witcoop, Ugbo has made it clear that he favours a return to Sheffield Wednesday. He is currently contracted to Troyes who were relegated to the French third tier and a departure seems likely, but as of now a move isn't close.

Birmingham along with QPR and Stoke City are said to be in the hunt for the striker but they have the uphill battle of making Ugbo change his mind. The 25-year-old had a six-month loan spell with the Owls last season and was key in them staying up. He scored seven goals in 19 games including a brace against Birmingham in February, and now wants to seal a permanent return to England.

Our friends at The Star are saying that Wednesday might speed up their pursuit of Ugbo now other clubs are showing an interest. A proposal was made to Troyes, but that wasn't deemed acceptable by the French club, and are now awaiting a second offer which they hope will meet the valuation of the player that has another two years remaining on his current contract.

In other news, Sheffield United are interested in pursuing a move for Andre Dozzell, according to a report.

Transfer specialist Alan Nixon is reporting on his Patreon account that the Blades want to bolster their midfield options and are looking at Dozzell. He is a free agent after he was released by QPR, and despite spent the last five months of his contract with the Hoops at St Andrew's.

The 25-year-old was signed when Tony Mowbray was in charge and he started well, he failed to feature in Gary Rowett's plans and only made one appearance under him. Dozzell wasn't named in the match day squad of the final three games of the campaign as Blues were relegated to League One.

Despite his lack of first team football over the last few months, Chris Wilder could now add Dozzell to the Blades ranks as they look to assemble a squad capable of challenging for promotion to the Championship. Sheffield United have already dipped their toes in to the free agent market after signing Callum O'Hare, Jamie Shackleton and Sam McCallum, whilst they also paid a fee to Bournemouth for Kieffer Moore.