Birmingham City should consider signing West Brom star | OneFootball

Birmingham City have won League One and should target John Swift this summer, who is set to be released by West Bromwich Albion.

Birmingham City have gained promotion to the second-tier at the first time of asking from League One with a points tally that could go past the all-time EFL record in their final two matches of the campaign, but their attention has already turned to next season.

Co-owner and chairman Tom Wagner has been discussing the amount of money that the Blues will have at their disposal in comparison to other Championship clubs, and it is realistic to suggest that Birmingham should be targeting Premier League promotion next year.

With impressive coach Chris Davies at the helm and a core of a squad that could legitimately already consider themselves top six, at least, contenders next year, and financial backing behind them, it could be an exciting summer, once again, for Birmingham supporters.

One area of the pitch that may need strengthening for a higher level is in attacking midfield, as well as even depth in attack, as they seek to get more goals from midfield.

Birmingham’s midlands rivals West Bromwich Albion are set to go through their own summer of change and upheaval with Tony Mowbray sacked last week and the departing boss saying that Grady Diangana will not remain at The Hawthorns.

He also hinted at the probability that midfielder John Swift would be leaving Albion at the end of his contract and that is a market opportunity that Birmingham should pounce on this summer.

Birmingham’s need for goals from midfield

Birmingham spent a lot of money last summer and a fair chunk of that was on Iceland international attacking midfielder Willum Willumsson from Dutch side Go Ahead Eagles.

Willumsson started the season brightly at St Andrews but has since faded with performances dipping since the turn of the year and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him on the fringes of the squad or missing out on the squad altogether and shipped out.

Another member of their all-conquering League One title winning side that is not yet certain on his future would be on-loan Kieran Dowell, who joined the club from Rangers in the winter transfer window.

Dowell started slowly but has established himself as a key man for Blues, as was to be expected for a player of his pedigree but, again, is a player that may not be at the club next season as he is only in the second city on a temporary basis for now.

With Birmingham fan favourite Lukas Jutkiewicz retiring at the end of the season, there is already a need to deepen their attacking resources this summer to supplement the likes of Jay Stansfield, Lyndon Dykes, Alfie May and Keshi Anderson but to truly make the step up to being legitimate promotion contenders in the Championship, goals from midfield will also be required.

John Swift’s scoring exploits

After coming through the academy at Chelsea, and making a Premier League appearance for the two-time European champions back in the 2013/14 campaign, Swift has forged himself an impressive career in the EFL.

After loan spells at Rotherham United and Swindon Town, he enjoyed a productive time of it in west London with Brentford, where he scored seven goals in 27 appearances for the Bees in the second-tier.

He moved to Reading on a permanent basis in 2016 and regularly contributed to the Royals’ attack, posting decent scoring numbers from midfield, including hitting double figures in his final campaign.

He moved to West Brom on a free transfer and once again found the net with relative regularity from the middle of the pitch, hitting nine goals in 37 appearances for Albion last season for example.

After an underwhelming season this time around, the 29-year-old Portsmouth-born former England U21 international now looks set to be a free agent and his Championship experience and eye for goal could be crucial for Birmingham, either starting or off the bench.

That Championship experience could be crucial, too, because for as strong as Birmingham have been and will expect to be with their current squad next season, no player can match the 314 Championship appearances made by Swift.

33-year-old centre-back Grant Hanley does have more career appearances in the top two divisions but the Scotland international hasn't yet signed a new deal with his contract up this summer.

David McGoldrick's move to Sheffield United in 2018 could be seen as a similarly shrewd transfer by the Blades as they sought experience and quality that raised the floor of their performance level to go with the excellent squad Chris Wilder had built. He ended up scoring 15 goals in the 2018/19 season to help them gain automatic promotion to the Premier League.

A slightly different position but the same could even be said of Kieran McKenna's Ipswich Town when they brought in Wales international Kieffer Moore in January 2024, to provide a level of experience and quality that would help an exciting but still inexperienced Ipswich side gain promotion.