Birmingham City transfers: Bid accepted as two Stoke City stars 'likely' to be on 'radar'

Birmingham City might be forced into work as a bid was accepted from a rival for one of their reported transfer targets.

According to TEAMTalk, a bid has been accepted by Stoke City for midfielder Josh Laurent. Earlier this week, it was reported that Blues were keen on signing the Potters captain but found that wages could be a stumbling block.

Now, Sivasspor have acted, and have made an offer for Laurent, which has subsequently been accepted. Sivasspor have been active in the English transfer market, having signed Alex Pritchard from Birmingham, with Juninho Bacuna expected to follow.

Birmingham and Sivasspor aren't the only clubs interested with Gazianstep keen, as well as some unnamed clubs in England. According to the report, Stoke are willing to move Laurent on because of his contract situation, and Sivasspor have now moved ahead of everyone in the pecking order.

The 29-year-old is entering the final year of his contract at Stoke after signing a three-year deal in the summer of 2022 following a free transfer exit from Reading. He made 40 appearances in all competitions for Stoke last season, notching up three goals and three assists.

According to StokeOnTrentLive, because of Birmingham's relegation, they can operate under 'looser' Financial Fair Play rules, and so they can increase their budget. Financial Fair Play rules differ from the Championship, and instead the EFL keep an eye on salary costs. It does mean Birmingham might be limited to what they can offer to Laurent, but they could make a respectable offer to Stoke, but they would then have to convince the player to drop down a division.

StokeOnTrentLive also claimed that Lewis Baker and Daniel Johnson could also be of interest to Birmingham. The pair are 'likely' to be on Chris Davies' radar. Birmingham are hoping to assemble a team capable of winning promotion at the first attempt as they bid to live up to their favourites tag.

In the mean time though, news of Stoke accepting a bid could force them in to action. Bacuna's move to Turkey hasn't yet been confirmed, but he hasn't travelled to Austria for Blues' warm weather pre-season training camp.