Birmingham City ‘sniffing’ around Leeds United attacker - complications arise in transfer

Birmingham City are involved in a transfer battle on deadline day for Leeds United forward Ian Poveda, according to a report.

Our friends at The Star report that Blues are in competition with Sheffield Wednesday to sign the forward. It is added that Poveda has been a target for Wednesday for the last few weeks and shouldn't be viewed as a panic move. 

In Birmingham’s case however, they have reported that there are issues at Blues end that are complicating a potential deal. If Wednesday win the race, it is suggested that Poveda would be joining them on a permanent basis.

Poveda has previously worked under Tony Mowbray during their time together at Blackburn Rovers. He notched up two assists and one goal during his time at Ewood Park. 

The 23-year-old this season has been used on a sparingly basis by Leeds. He has made ten appearances in all competitions but has been limited to just 248 minutes of pitch time. Poveda has started just once all season and that ironically came against Blues in August. 

Poveda's other experience of English football came when he rose through the youth ranks at Manchester City. He played for their under-18s before graduating to their under-23s and also played in their UEFA Youth League team. Poveda also spent the 2023/24 season on loan at Blackpool where he got three goals and two assists.

He is a two-time Colombia international and made his debut for the national team in December 2023 having come through the youth ranks at England, playing from under-16s to under-20's level.

In other news, Isaac Hayden who was linked with a move to St Andrew's earlier this month is joining QPR. Hayden had a whole host of clubs linked to him but the Newcastle United man has completed a loan move to Loftus Road.

Earlier in the day it was reported that a bid for Hoops star Ilais Chair had been rejected, but that they are not expected to make any further attempts to sign him. Birmingham have so far made one deadline day signing which was the arrival of Alex Pritchard from Sunderland for an undisclosed fee.