Birmingham City and Hibernian are working on a very late transfer on deadline day in a blow to Preston North End.

Birmingham striker Lyndon Dykes is reportedly on his way to join Scottish Premiership club Hibernian on a season-long loan.

The 29-year-old striker is on track to become a Hibs player before the later Scottish transfer deadline of 11pm. The English window slammed shut at 7pm but there’s still time for Dykes to seal his move to Easter Road due to the differing stipulations north of the border.

BBC Sport Scotland reports that ‘Dykes is ready to join Hibernian on loan’. It’s claimed that the Australian-born striker ‘had the option to join Preston North End but has chosen Edinburgh as his next port of call’. Hibs are poised to capture Dykes on loan for the duration of the 2025/26 campaign.

Dykes has made his final decision, expressing his desire to join Hibs. All parties are now working hard to get the deal over the line in time, as it’s not yet finalised. As put by BBC Sport Scotland: “All being well, he will be a Hibs player by later this evening.”

Why Birmingham are allowing Dykes to leave

Blues boss Chris Davies has often spoken about his desire to have four centre-forward options at St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park, but the decision has been made to let Dykes depart. That leaves Blues with three out-and-out strikers in Jay Stansfield, Kyogo Furuhashi and Marvin Ducksch.

Despite scoring some memorable goals for Blues, including a winning header in the Vertu Trophy semi-final against Bradford City last term and a 98th-minute clincher against Blackburn Rovers recently, Dykes is unlikely to start regularly. The Scot is behind Stansfield, Kyogo and Ducksch in the pecking order, so it makes sense for him to venture elsewhere for better minutes.

It awaits to be seen whether Birmingham have a replacement for Dykes lined up, but reports earlier in the day suggested