Birmingham City holding transfer talks with £1.3m Bristol City star

According to the Bristol Post, Gardner-Hickman is in talks over a move to St Andrew’s. The Telegraph reported that Marcus McGuane is undergoing a medical at Bristol City and that is paving the way for Gardner-Hickman to head to Blues.

He is having discussions with Birmingham, as he considers dropping down into League One. The Post added that nothing has been finalised ahead of Gardner-Hickman’s possible departure from Ashton Gate. 

The 22-year-old only signed for the West Country outfit last summer initially on a loan deal before it was made permanent in the January transfer window for a fee of around £1.3m. He was signed when Nigel Pearson was in charge, but Liam Manning replaced him and since then, he’s not been able to hold down a regular spot in the side.

He was present at Bristol City’s open session on Wednesday, but if Gardner-Hickman can agree to the deal that Birmingham are presenting him then he could even make his debut against Leyton Orient. Teams have until mid-day on the day before a game to register any new signings. 

As for his fitness, he’s not yet played in the Championship this term, having been an unused substitute against Hull City and Millwall. He did play 90 minutes as a centre-midfielder against Coventry City in a 1-0 defeat in the Carabao Cup last Tuesday however.

Before joining Bristol City, he came through the academy of West Brom and made 60 appearances for the Baggies. He is predominantly a central midfielder but is also capable of playing as a right-wing-back.

His versatility would be welcomed as he could cover various positions, helping provide depth over what is a long campaign, with the club involved in various competitions. At right-back, Gardner-Hickman could challenge Ethan Laird for a starting spot. In centre midfield, Marc Leonard and Paik Seung-ho were chosen as the two holding midfielders with Willum Willumsson the most furthest midfielder forward against Reading. Chris Davies replaced Wilumson with Fulham loanee Luke Harris in the 3-2 win against Wycombe Wanderers, and