Birmingham City 'discover fate' in transfer tug-of-war amid Ipswich Town fear

Birmingham City's concerns of losing top scorer Jay Stansfield in the January transfer window have finally been eased as Fulham won't be recalling the striker from his season-long loan spell.

Tony Mowbray admitted to Birmingham World on January 16 that the window for Stansfield's loan to be terminated early was still open but the Cottagers have allowed their forward to stick it out at St Andrew's Stadium. Sunderland and Ipswich Town will be frustrated by that as the promotion-chasing pair were both interested in securing the 21-year-old's services.

Blues might well be in 20th position and 11 points outside of the top six but Stansfield is loving life in the West Midlands. Nearly a guaranteed starter every week, the England Under-21 international has scored eight goals and assisted two more in 25 Championship appearances. He's also played twice in the Emirates FA Cup, scoring one and assisting another.

Birmingham themselves announced Stansfield will be staying put by posting on X. A video of the attacker celebrating his FA Cup winner against Hull City was captioned: "When we said season-long loan, we meant it." That announcement has put a certain end to the tug-of-war between Blues and Fulham.

Whether or not Stansfield can be signed permanently is the next conversation and it's one Mowbray has already been having with Director of Football, Craig Gardner. "I think we should definitely be in the market for him if there's a number where he could definitely come and play here," Mowbray said after the 2-1 win over Stoke City.

"I think he enjoys it that much. He would want to play in the Premier League if he thought he was going to play in the Premier League, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't want to sit on the bench. He much prefers playing in the Championship and scoring goals. It's not our decision, it's Fulham's but I know he's enjoying it," Mowbray said.