Birmingham City transfer update on Fulham, Hearts and Sheffield Wednesday stars amid Rangers interest

Hearts have received no transfer bids for Birmingham City linked striker Lawrence Shankland it has been confirmed.

In March, it was reported that Blues had joined the race to sign the Scottish forward. Social media reports earlier this week then claimed that a bid had been made by Birmingham for the striker, whilst Rangers put him back on their transfer shortlist.

According to the Hearts Standard, there has been no approach to the Edinburgh club for Shankland. The player has just entered the final year of his contract and there has been no change to his situation according to the report from Scotland.

Despite an immense amount of transfer speculation there were no bids for Shankland in the January transfer window. Hearts offered him a new contract that would have put him at the top of their wage bill, making him their highest-paid player, but there was a deadline and that passed with no agreement made.

Shankland competed for Scotland at EURO 2024, but was limited to three substitute appearances as they were knocked out at the group stage. Before the summer tournament in Germany, Shankland had come off a campaign which saw him net 31 goals in 47 games across five competitions. His 24 goals in 37 games for Hearts last season saw him crowned the Scottish Premiership's Golden Boot winner.

In other news, Cardiff City have joined the race to sign Fulham’s Jay Stansfield. Cardiff City have 'stepped up' their search for a striker and have identified the former Blues loanee as a potential target.

BBC Wales Sport is reporting that the Bluebirds have shown 'tentative' interest in the 21-year-old. Cardiff are aware however that Birmingham have begun discussions about possibly signing Stansfield on a permanent basis. It is unclear yet what Fulham plan to do with Stansfield after Marco Silva in May said that after his loan he could force his way in to his plans. Stansfield is wanted by Birmingam, Cardiff and a whole host of Championship teams.

Elsewhere, Ike Ugbo has been left out of Troyes’ pre-season squad. His exclusion from the 22-man squad is the biggest indication that his future lies away from France.

Sheffield Wednesday made a bid for the 25-year-old this summer but that was turned down. It is understood that Ugbo favours a move to Hillsborough, and would prefer a return to the Owls over a possible move to Birmingham or Stoke City.

During their pre-season camp in Germany, Wednesday head coach Danny Rohl was able to provide an update on their pursuit of the former Chelsea youngster. Speaking to the BBC, he said: The latest is that he’s not here at the moment.

“But we’ll look at what we can do. He’s a crucial player, we know this, but at the moment we have to try. We have to look, and we need different options.”