Birmingham City stance revealed on Dion Sanderson amid Coventry City transfer rumour

Birmingham City manager Chris Davies described Dion Sanderson as an 'important' member of their squad amid social media talk linking him with a move away.

There has been talk among Blues fans on social media platform X that Sanderson could potentially be joining Coventry City when the January transfer window opens. It has to be said, however, that nothing substantial has been reported by BirminghamLive, or any other reputable Birmingham City websites.

A move can’t happen until when the January transfer window opens anyway on Wednesday, January 1 anyway. Birmingham have three games to play against Crawley Town, Burton Albion, and Blackpool until then and they can’t register any new players for the New Year’s Day game against Stockport County.

Manager Chris Davies was asked about the future of the 25-year-old given his lack of first-team opportunities this season. He will be available for the trip to Sussex this evening should he be needed.

Chris Davies on Dion Sanderson

Speaking to BirminghamLive on Friday prior to tonight’s match, Davies said: “I said to Dion that ultimately he was the captain last season and started this season for me at centre-back, but then he picked up an injury which knocked his rhythm because he had played through the whole pre-season, others have come in and really taken their chance.

“Dion is an important part of the squad and we’ll need Dion, absolutely, in this run of games but they are conversations that I will have with him, around his game time and how much he wants to play. That’s something we’ll look at in January but, for the time being, Dion’s an important part of the squad and will be someone we’ll call upon in the next few weeks.”

Birmingham City career to date

Sanderson has made seven appearances across all competitions this season. He's missed just one game in their EFL Trophy campaign, but in the league he's made just two appearances, and his last outing was a two-minute cameo off the bench.

He's under contract until the summer of 2027 after joining from Wolves in the summer of 2023 for a reported fee of around £2m. He initially joined the club for a first loan spell in 2021/22. Sanderson made 16 appearances but was recalled in January and shipped out to QPR.

The Wednsfield-born defender returned to St Andrew's on loan in 2022 and made 34 appearances, helping the club to a 17th-placed finish. Last season, he made 40 appearances across all competitions, and was the club captain until he was stripped of the armband in April.