"Good bit of business" - Birmingham City told to pursue summer swoop for Blackburn Rovers man | OneFootball

With Birmingham City having been struggling in the Championship this season, when it came to the January transfer window, it was natural that the club would look to strengthen.

In the end, there were three new arrivals at St Andrews during the month, with Alex Pritchard and Seung-ho Paik arriving on permanent deals, whilst Andre Dozzell joined the Blues on loan.

The Blues did not land all of their targets, though.

One name that Birmingham City reportedly targeted, but ulitmately missed out on was Blackburn Rovers target man Sam Gallagher.

According to Football Insider, the Blues opened talks with Rovers during the January window regarding the 28-year-old, with Tony Mowbray having made a new striker a priority after taking charge following the sacking of Wayne Rooney.

The deal being worked on was reported to be a loan agreement.

Mowbray had, of course, worked with Gallagher previously at Blackburn when he was manager at Ewood Park and the player was previously on loan at St. Andrew's in 2017-18.

Gallagher is out of contract at Blackburn this summer, although Rovers do hold a 12-month option to extend his deal that you'd imagine the Lancashire outfit would want to take up.

However, there is still a possibility that Gallagher could be available on a free transfer should Blackburn want to get his wages off the books.

Carlton Palmer on Birmingham City's interest in Sam Gallagher

With that in mind, FLW spoke to former England international midfielder Carlton Palmer regarding Birmingham City and their winter interest in Gallagher.

Palmer was quizzed on whether or not the Blues should renew their interest in Gallagher this summer and indeed try to snap him up on a free transfer.

"Birmingham City might be looking to re-sign Sam Gallagher - his contract's up at Blackburn Rovers in the summer," Palmer said when speaking to Football League World.

"He's worked with Tony Mowbray before, and obviously Birmingham City will wait and see where they are in the division.

"Currently they are in a relegation battle and Tony Mowbray is on sabbatical due to medical reasons - they are in serious trouble.

"I'm not so sure Sam Gallagher will want to go to Birmingham City if they were relegated, but should Birmingham City retain their status in the Championship, I'm sure Tony Mowbray would be interested in re-signing Sam Gallagher who played under him at Blackburn.

"It would be a good bit of business for them, but obviously, they would be looking at his injury situation and hoping he would be fit and ready to go as he's missed a large part of this season with injury."

Should Birmingham City renew their interest in Sam Gallagher?

If Tony Mowbray returns to the Blues ahead of next season as expected, it would make sense for the club to renew their interest in Sam Gallagher.

On a free transfer, it would be shrewd business for the club, who really do need to renew their striking options.

This is even more so the case when Jay Stansfield returns to Fulham from his current loan.

There are, however, a few things that could scupper this plan.

As Palmer alluded to, Birmingham City are in a relegation battle at present and Gallagher is very unlikely to want to join a League One side.

Not only this, though, Blackburn reportedly have an option to extend his contract for another year, and them doing so would put a stop to any free transfer plans Birmingham City had.