"Don't want to be spending a fortune" - Claim made on Birmingham City's John Ruddy dilemma | OneFootball

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…

Despite being Birmingham City's first choice goalkeeper over the past two seasons, John Ruddy is out of contract at St Andrew's this summer, and there's been no sign of a new deal.

The 37-year-old joined from Wolves in the summer of 2022, and has made 86 appearances for Blues since his arrival.

Ruddy, who won one cap for England in 2012, sees his deal at St Andrew's expire this summer, and fellow Championship side Blackburn Rovers have been credited with an interest in him.

Blackburn are currently managed by former Birmingham boss John Eustace, who brought Ruddy to the club, and the Rovers' manager is keen to reunite with his former goalkeeper this summer.

Birmingham will have to act fast if they're to keep Ruddy, and will have to offer him a deal that keeps him happy if he's to stay, as he'll seemingly be Eustace's starting goalkeeper if he moves to Ewood Park and won't want to be sat on the bench at St Andrew's.

Birmingham City's fan pundit on John Ruddy's future at the club

Birmingham City have quite a dilemma with John Ruddy's future as he is 37-years-old, and ideally the club would want a younger goalkeeper.

However, Ruddy is vastly experienced and would make a great second choice goalkeeper and would be able to pass on his wisdom to younger goalkeepers. However, with the option of starting for Blackburn a real possibility, it may be difficult for Birmingham to keep the England international on these terms.

Our Birmingham City fan pundit, Mike Gibbs, believes the club can't afford a second choice goalkeeper on big wages, which is what has happened previously.

He said, "I think that’s a real tough one with Ruddy.

“My view would be to get a long-term successor in place if we could. I think as a number one it would be a no from me, but as a number two it would be yes.

“I think he’s a more than able deputy, and he would be great if we had a young goalkeeper and someone he could mentor and nurture, so that would be my answer. “The number two position depends on our league status first and foremost, and wages too. We don’t want to be spending a fortune to have a 38-year-old on our books as a number two. We’ve had the same issue in the past with the likes of Neil Etheridge, who is on a decent wage, and it happened with Tomas Kuszczak and David Stockdale.

“We’ve got to avoid that mistake again.”

With both John Ruddy and Neil Etheridge out of contract this summer, it provides the perfect opportunity for Birmingham City to freshen up their goalkeeping ranks.

It remains to be seen what division Blues will be playing in next season, which could obviously impact their transfer budget for next season, but Birmingham should be looking to sign two younger goalkeepers, both of whom have resale value which could make the club money in years to come.

Whilst it's important to have experience between the sticks, Ruddy and Etheridge have a combined age of 71, so that's an area of the squad where the club should be looking to bring down the age profile of the squad.

Ruddy has been a good servant to the club, but it seems an ideal time to let him leave this summer, so Birmingham are able to build a squad for the seasons to come.

The club have been stuck in a rut towards the bottom of the Championship table for years, and regardless of what division they're in next season, the squad needs to be overhauled.