Significant transfer update provided on Birmingham City’s pursuit of 23-year-old striker | OneFootball

Birmingham City’s move for Bordeaux striker Josh Maja has collapsed, according to an update on Twitter from journalist Fabrizio Romano.

The 23-year-old was previously believed to be on the verge of sealing a move to St Andrew’s, with John Eustace’s side remaining active in the transfer window at this late stage despite uncertainty remaining with their takeover situation.

And they are in need of more attacking firepower in the final third, with former QPR coach Eustace already moving to bring in Manchester United prospect Hannibal Mejbri.

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The two sides’ relationship could pay dividends for the West Midlands outfit once more during this transfer window as they target a permanent deal for Tahith Chong, who was unable to make as much of an impact at the second-tier side as he would have wanted to last term due to injury problems.

With Onel Hernandez and Lyle Taylor leaving the club since the summer though and Chuks Aneke returning to Charlton Athletic permanently in January, they could benefit from having another striker to provide competition to the likes of Troy Deeney and Scott Hogan.

With this, Maja was thought to be coming in to bolster their options in this department but instead, the player has decided to sign a new two-year deal to commit his future to his current side.

The Verdict:

You have to praise the forward’s commitment because most players would have left the French side considering the situation they find themselves in – and this commitment is potentially why the second-tier outfit will be gutted to miss out on him.

He may have only scored once for Stoke during his time at the bet365 Stadium last term – but he has shown this season that he can be a force in front of goal with one goal and three assists already during the early stages of this season in the French second tier.

It’s also interesting to note that Eustace’s side were targeting a permanent deal for him, so there does seem to be some money in the bank for the second-tier outfit to spend and that could be important with their forward department still needing to be addressed.

And they may need extra funds to get some longer-term deals over the line – because they already have six loanees at their disposal and this means one will need to miss out on their matchday squad.

If they bring in one more, two loanees would have to miss out and that isn’t exactly beneficial for squad harmony, so it will be interesting to see whether they are able to secure some longer-term agreements.