Birmingham City join Bristol City in battle for £2.1m-rated Championship star

Swansea City centre-back Harry Darling is reportedly a transfer target for Birmingham and Bristol City ahead of the summer window.

The 25-year-old has started all 26 Championship matches so far this season, helping keep the Swans within arm’s distance of the play-off battle. Darling hardly missed a beat for Swansea over the two campaigns previous, either, as he more than repaid the £1.9 million he cost to sign from MK Dons in 2022.

Journalist Darren Witcoop reports Birmingham are big fans of Darling but face competition from Bristol. The central defender’s contract is due to expire this June and talks with Swansea are said to have been shelved after a breakdown in negotiations. A new deal could still be agreed at some stage but for now Darling is set to leave for free.

No transfer fee makes the player all the more attractive to any potential suitor and with Birmingham expected to achieve an immediate promotion back to the Championship from League One, St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park could be a more enticing destination than any other available.

Bristol cannot be ruled out, of course, as the Robins are only a short distance away from Swansea and share similar ambitions to finish in the Championship top six. Bristol are actually three points ahead of the Swans in the current season, so there’s not much between the two teams.

Birmingham are probably more desirable if promoted, however, as they have the financial means to gazump offers from elsewhere. That said, there would weirdly be less certainty of guaranteed starts at Blues as the likes of Krystian Bielik and Christoph Klarer are already probably of top Championship quality themselves.

Phil Neumann’s expected arrival from Hannover 96 in the summer - also for free - makes the competition even hotter, so Darling would have to battle hard for his place. Some players find that attractive and others don’t, so it’ll be interesting to see how the Swansea man assesses the situation.

One thing’s for sure, if Darling does leave Swansea for free then his new club will be getting a bargain. Following his fine form this season, the defender’s market value is estimated at around €2.5 million (£2.1m) and that would be even higher if he had longer on his contract.