"A level above" - Birmingham City ambition to retain Blackburn Rovers target pinpointed | OneFootball

FLW's Birmingham City fan pundit has given his verdict on the future of midfielder Paik Seung-ho.

Highlights

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Birmingham City are preparing for life in League One after their relegation from the Championship last season.

The Blues were relegated after a disastrous campaign in which six different managers took charge of the team, including caretakers, and they will play in the third tier of English football for the first time in almost 30 years next season.

It was claimed that the ambitious Birmingham board had given new manager Chris Davies a £20 million budget, and they have certainly not been afraid to spend this summer.

Ryan Allsop, Bailey Peacock-Farrell, Alex Cochrane, Christoph Klarer, Willum Thor Willumsson, Marc Leonard, Emil Hansson and Alfie May have all arrived at St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park, and there are likely to be more new additions to come before the end of the transfer window.

The Blues are also yet to lose any of their stars this summer, with midfielder Alex Pritchard, who struggled for game time after joining from Sunderland in January, the only player to be sold so far.

Paik Seung-ho transfer latest

One player Birmingham will be desperately hoping to keep hold of is midfielder Paik Seung-ho, who was one of few players to emerge with any credit last season after putting in some impressive performances following his January move from Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.

Paik scored the winning goal in the Blues' 1-0 win over Norwich City on the final day of the season, but it was not enough to prevent relegation, and he is reportedly attracting interest from Blackburn Rovers.

When asked about the future of Paik, and some of the others who have been linked with a move, Davies said he was hopeful of convincing players to stay and be part of the club's exciting long-term project.

Davies told Birmingham Live last month.

"My message to the players around that is that I’m a symbol of exactly that. I’m someone who could well be a manager in the Championship now, possibly even higher who knows, but I have chosen to come to a club that’s going somewhere.

"It’s for me to make the vision, the project and where we’re going with this crystal clear to them so they can see that yes, we’re in League One, but we’re going somewhere and you want to be part of that. That is exactly the message I’m going to be getting across to those players who are maybe considering where they are at now in relation to where they want to be."

Birmingham City fan pundit on Paik Seung-ho future

FLW's Birmingham City fan pundit Mike Gibbs says he would love Paik to stay at the club this summer, but he believes the 27-year-old will depart before the closure of the transfer window.

"This is a really tough one," Mike said.

"My gut says he leaves, but maybe that's my nervous disposition with this.

"It would be absolutely amazing if Paik stays, but my gut says he leaves before the deadline."

Birmingham City facing big Paik Seung-ho decision

While much of Birmingham's focus so far this summer has been on strengthening their squad, they will now have to make tough decisions on whether to cash in on some of their key players.

The Blues will be reluctant to lose Paik, particularly just six months after he joined the club, but he is one of their most sellable assets, and after a summer of big spending, they may need to balance the books.

It remains to be seen whether Blackburn would be able to afford a deal for Paik, but Rovers are unlikely to be the only club interested in the midfielder, and he may be keen to play in the Championship in order to cement his place in the South Korea squad at international level.

Birmingham will be hopeful of keeping Paik, and Mike is right that he would be a huge asset in League One next season, but with a number of strong central midfield options, they would still be well-stocked even if he was to depart.