St Andrew’s appears to be the likely destination for Alex Pritchard, as the Blues are expected to sign their third player of the January transfer window.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Birmingham City set to sign Alex Pritchard from Sunderland.
- A deal of around £100,000 looks set to be agreed.
- Pritchard has already agreed a two-and-a-half year deal with Blues.
Sports Illustrated reports that Birmingham City is expected to sign Sunderland midfielder Alex Pritchard.
Paik Seung-ho, a January transfer window addition, arrived yesterday, marking Blues’ second acquisition of the window from Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.
He replaced Andre Dozzell, who signed a season-long loan from Queens Park Rangers and will remain at St Andrew’s.
Even though they haven’t done much business this month, it makes sense given how active they were during the summer transfer window—the club spent a good deal of money during that window while also making a lot of money.
| Birmingham City – 2023/24 Signings | ||
|---|---|---|
| Player Name | Signed From | Loan/Permanent |
| Dion Sanderson | Wolves | Permanent |
| Lee Buchanan | Werder Bremen | Permanent |
| Ethan Laird | Man United | Permanent |
| Krystian Bielik | Derby County | Permanent |
| Tyler Roberts | Leeds United | Permanent |
| Koji Miyoshi | Royal Antwerp | Permanent |
| Keshi Anderson | Blackpool | Permanent |
| Cody Drameh | Leeds United | Loan |
| Emanuel Aiwu | Cremonese | Loan |
| Oli Burke | Werder Bremen | Loan |
| Jay Stansfield | Fulham | Loan |
| Siriki Dembele | AFC Bournemouth | Permanent |
There was a lot of focus on their forward department with the likes of Jay Stansfield, Scott Hogan and Lukas Jutkiewicz, but with all three remaining at St Andrew’s at this point, it doesn’t look as though they will strengthen that area.
Pritchard, who submitted a transfer request at the Stadium of Light last week, looks set for a switch to the Midlands side though. And more details have emerged about this imminent transfer.
Details of Alex Pritchard’s move to Birmingham City
Blues had been linked with a move for the 30-year-old before, although Alan Nixon reported last week that they were happy to wait until the summer to secure his signature with his contract expiring at that point.
But the same report also stated that the Black Cats were keen to offload him as quickly as possible following his transfer request – and Birmingham risked missing out on him if they didn’t make a move for him this month because of that.
This may be the reason why Tony Mowbray’s side have made a move to sign him, with a £100,000 deal potentially set to be agreed.
A two-and-a-half year deal has also been agreed with Pritchard set to secure a sizeable pay rise as part of that.
This transfer is “very close” to being complete and unless he fails a medical, it doesn’t look as though there are any barriers to this deal going through.
Alex Pritchard deal works for all parties
To only get £100,000 is criminal for a player like Pritchard who can make a difference at this level.
However, he was clearly unhappy at the Stadium of Light and Michael Beale’s side couldn’t afford to keep him around because of that, so this deal works for them.
Birmingham, meanwhile, are paying a very small fee for a very good player.
They won’t want to spend too much in January as they look to abide by financial rules, but the Pritchard deal is a very good one for them.
And the player gets the opportunity to play in a new environment, whilst being paid a higher salary.
It’s a good outcome for all parties – and the 30-year-old will be hoping he can kick on and have an important role under Mowbray – who already knows him well.
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