"Fourth choice" - Birmingham City fired warning as news of Burnley, Luke McNally pursuit emerges | OneFootball

FLW's Blues fan pundit doesn't think a move for McNally makes sense

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 have been urged against signing Burnley centre-back Luke McNally after they reportedly joined the chase for his signature alongside Bristol City and Stoke City.

A report from Football Insider has stated that Blues, as well as the Championship pair, are plotting a move for the 24-year-old, with his future at the Clarets uncertain following consecutive seasons out on loan with Coventry City and the Potters.

It is unclear whether a potential exit would be on loan, or permanently, but McNally looks to be heading out of Turf Moor this summer, with the club willing to listen to offers for the centre-back due to boss Scott Parker's wealth of options in that position, as he heads into his first season in charge of the club.

Birmingham, meanwhile, also have a new man at the helm in former-Spurs assistant coach Chris Davies, and look set to be challenging at the top of League One in 2024/25 with new signings like Alfie May and Marc Leonard, as they seek an immediate return to the second-tier following relegation last season.

Birmingham City might have McNally as fourth choice

McNally has proven himself as a solid second-tier centre-back in recent years, and featured 41 times in all competitions for Stoke last season as he formed a strong partnership with Michael Rose and helped the club successfully stave off relegation.

Birmingham were not so lucky in their quest to survive, but are after a quick reprieve, with their American owners giving new boss Davies a sizeable transfer purse that has led the club to break the third-tier transfer record twice so far this summer.

While the 24-year-old would seemingly be a coup for the St Andrew's outfit with Championship clubs interested, FLW's Blues fan pundit Mike Gibbs would be against bringing him in to the club this month, due to the depth that they already possess at centre-back.

“McNally is a funny one really, I can’t see him getting a huge amount of game-time if he was to join,” he told Football League World.

“We’ve brought Christoph Klarer in, and got Krystian Bielik and Dion Sanderson in that position as well. For a player to come on loan and drop down a division to League One and not play, I’m not sure I can see it happening.

“He’d be a good back-up and good option for us, but I do definitely think he’d be fourth-choice, and as a loan player do you really want that?

“Unless he’s so confident in his ability that he thinks he can break in, it doesn’t feel like the best move.”

Davies has no need for McNally

While McNally would be more than likely be a first-choice option for every other League One side, Birmingham are in a slightly different scenario this summer, as they have kept the majority of their existing players and so have a squad not too dissimilar to the one they got relegated with in May.

While veteran Marc Roberts has left upon the expiry of his contract, and Emanuel Aiwu has returned to parent club Cremonese, Chris Davies still has decent depth at centre-back, so there is little need to add another player to the heart of his defence that will want to feature in every game.

He currently has Krystian Bielik, who recently signed a new deal and is accomplished at second-tier and international level, Dion Sanderson, who was previously club captain and has been an ever-present for the last two years, as well as new signing Christoph Klarer, all at his disposal.

24-year-old Klarer joined from Darmstadt 98 on July 20 for an apparent fee of €4.15m, and featured 30 times for the Bundesliga outfit last season, so he is surely set to be a starter in League One, but will face strong competition from the aforementioned existing duo.

To add McNally to that crop of centre-backs would make little sense, unless one of Bielik or Sanderson leaves, which currently seems unlikely given their consistent showings in pre-season.

He would surely instead be better served rejoining Stoke or going to Bristol City, given they each play at a higher level and would both be able to offer him a better guarantee of consistent minutes for the season ahead.