Blackburn Rovers plot Birmingham City transfer raid | OneFootball

Blackburn Rovers are targeting a new midfielder and recently relegated Birmingham City may have the answer.

Blackburn Rovers are interested in signing Birmingham City's Paik Seung-ho in a bid to strengthen their midfield next season.

That is according to a report from journalist Alan Nixon, who claims via his Patreon page that the Lancashire outfit are plotting a move for the South Korea international.

Rovers were one of the sides who managed to avoid the drop on the final day of last season, while Birmingham suffered relegation despite Paik's goal helping them to a 1-0 victory over Norwich City.

This means that the Blues may be forced to move on several of their players if they are keen to play football at a higher level than League One.

Paik may be one of these, but the Birmingham hierarchy will know that a promotion bid may be reliant on retaining the services of Championship level players.

Paik was reportedly of interest to several English clubs in January, including Sunderland, but it was Birmingham who managed to sign him on a two-and-a-half-year deal.

Six months into his contract at St. Andrew's though, interest is already brewing, with the South Korean's performances in a Blue shirt enough to attract John Eustace's attention at Blackburn.

Eustace and Rovers believe the tempting factor will be Championship football as Paik enters the prime era of his career.

A former La Masia product of Barcelona, the sum Birmingham would demand for Paik is currently unclear. However, their recent relegation could mean that the midfielder is available at a cut-price fee.

In addition to Rovers' interest, it was stated in April by Football Insider that Sunderland were also chasing the 27-year-old, having missed out on him in January.

This potential deal is one to keep an eye on, with Paik possibly seeing a better future for himself in the second-tier of English football rather than in League One.

Paik Seung-ho would be a much-needed addition to Blackburn Rovers midfield

On paper, Paik's career is undeniably an interesting one. Having risen through Barcelona's academy, the international has since played for teams such as Girona, SV Darmstadt and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in his native country of South Korea.

However, his dream has always been to play in England, as he stated to Blues TV in January: "Since I was young and I started to watch football, one of my dreams was to come to England and play football. When I heard Birmingham was interested in me, I was really happy."

Paik has achieved his dream, but he may not be as happy to play for his club next season in the third tier, so Blackburn's offering could be of real interest.

For Eustace, the midfielder would be an astute addition with his experience being of great value to the third-youngest squad in the Championship last season.

Able to feature anywhere in the midfield, he would add box-to-box qualities as well as a decent eye for a pass. For Rovers' current duo of Joe Rankin-Costello and Sondre Tronstad, who both had a good end to last season, this would help lessen the workload.

In addition, Eustace's three-at-the-back formation would suit Paik, having played a similar role at Jeonbuk.

This summer will provide the answers to whether Blackburn can agree a deal to sign the Birmingham midfielder, but if signed you would imagine Paik would go straight into a Rovers starting 11.