Stumbling block revealed in Birmingham City's links with Wolves forward | OneFootball

This would be a blockbuster signing for the Blues.

A deal to sign Wolves striker Hwang Hee-chan is reported to not be financially viable for Birmingham City.

It was expected that Chris Davies' side would challenge those coming down from the top flight for transfer targets. The financial vigour that they displayed last year in League One was seriously impressive, and it fuelled the record-breaking that propelled them back to the Championship.

Their return to the second tier hasn't dampened their ambitions. Birmingham are once again looking at the division above, both for possible signings and as their eventual destination.

They have already brought in some Premier League-quality talent in the form of Wolves midfielder Tommy Doyle and their old academy product Demarai Gray. Blues also spent around £10 million on former Celtic superstar Kyogo Furuhashi.

Hwang, another Asian attacker, has been tentatively linked with a move across the Midlands to St Andrew's, but it is not a deal that is said to be realistic for them.

Birmingham have slim chance of signing Hwang Hee-chan

His Premier League career really took off two seasons ago when he scored a dozen goals in less than 30 appearances for Wolves. In the midst of that campaign, the 29-year-old signed a new five-year deal with the club.

Shopping for talent from this part of the world has become more and more regular for Birmingham. Tomoki Iwata and Seung-ho Paik were both signed last summer. As well as Kyogo, Blues have also brought in fellow attacking Japanese option Kanya Fujimoto. Unfortunately for City, Hwang is unlikely to be added to that list.

According to Birmingham Live, signing him is unlikely due to the finances of the deal, both his wages and the fee it would take to get him, despite the fact that he may look for a move away from Molineux due to reduced minutes under new boss Vitor Pereira.

Wolves rejected a bid of £21 million for the South Korean international almost exactly a year ago. Birmingham's total spending last summer was around that figure - £20-25 million, as per The Athletic.

Even with the fantastic revenue streams they have built up, that sort of fee may be a stretch too far for the club's owners.

Birmingham can't overload their squad too much

If Birmingham go down the route of trying to get in another centre-forward, then surely one or two of the current crop of number nines would have to be moved on. Kyogo will want to play in that role, which already leaves Davies with four strong options up top. Add another one to that and there simply would not be enough minutes to go around.

Jay Stansfield - the £12-15 million 22-year-old that Birmingham bought from Fulham on Deadline Day last summer - won't be one of the ones that could be shipped on, leaving Lyndon Dykes and Alfie May as possible candidates, and it'd more likely be the former.