Stumbling block emerges as Birmingham City plot swoop for Fulham player | OneFootball

Luke Harris' career to date has extreme similarities to Stansfield after fresh links with Birmingham City

Highlights

Birmingham City are plotting a loan move for Fulham midfielder Luke Harris.

That is according to a fresh update from Football Insider on Saturday, who claim that Blues have submitted an enquiry to the Premier League outfit to take their academy graduate on a loan deal for the upcoming season.

Birmingham may have been relegated on the final day of the Championship season back in May, but there has perhaps never been more optimism surrounding a club that has suffered a similar fate, particularly with it being the club's first venture into the third tier since 1994/95.

Following the appointment of the highly-rated Chris Davies, Blues have been extremely active in the summer window as they look to fulfil CEO Garry Cook's statement of "building a Championship-ready squad in League One," which in the eyes of many, have already come to fruition amid a number of statement signings compared to many of their divisional counterparts.

Birmingham City set their sights on Fulham midfielder Luke Harris

As per the update from Pete O'Rourke of Football Insider, it is believed that the Second City outfit have submitted an enquiry to Fulham surrounding the possibility of obtaining Harris' signature for the upcoming season.

The report claims that Blues are big admirers of the 19-year-old and look to his services as a way of injecting some much-needed youthful exuberance and energy into their midfield.

But, whilst no other clubs have been named within this report as expressing interest at this current moment, there is a potential hurdle for Birmingham's ambitious management and recruitment team to overcome, which is that Harris' parent club are keen to send him on loan to a Championship outfit, having spent the second half of the last League One season on loan at Exeter City.

The publication states that whilst Harris has a limited number of Premier League games under his belt, the aim is that this season will be his first in terms of featuring week-in, week-out, something which Blues are keen to offer as they chase a first-time promotion back to the second tier.

Luke Harris' previous experience at League One level

As previously mentioned, Harris does have previous experience at this level through his loan spell at Exeter under Gary Caldwell, the younger brother of former Bluenose, Steven.

Harris was acquired early in the January transfer window on loan, before going on to showcase his current credentials and untapped potential in equal measure to Grecians supporters.

Despite featuring predominantly as an attack-minded midfielder, the Welsh youth international also played as a second striker, deeper in the centre of the park, as well as featuring as a right-winger against Northampton Town.

Harris netted the last of his four goals in the 2-1 win over the Cobblers, as well as scoring against Shrewsbury Town, Cheltenham Town and Port Vale, on top of two assists in outings against Bolton Wanderers and Leyton Orient.

So much was the impression made by Harris during his four-month stint, Caldwell expressed his desire to keep Harris in Devon for the upcoming season, although talks on that front seem to have chilled in recent times.

"He's had a big impact and I think potentially more time with us next year would be really helpful for has development because he's another player, like Stanno (Jay Stansfield) that we had from Fulham, that I can see playing for Fulham in years to come," the Exeter boss told the BBC.

Birmingham City should have earned Fulham's trust after Jay Stansfield exploits

Besides the obvious pre-established similarities Harris and Stansfield have given their time at Exeter, Fulham and now links with Birmingham, the striker's exploits at St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park means that Blues may still stand a great chance of taking Harris on loan, despite Fulham's wishes to aid his development.

Ultimately, despite featuring four times in the Premier League against Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and twice against Manchester City - with the latter being his only start - Harris is yet to really experience such an intense environment for a sustained period, which is exactly what will be coming Birmingham's way this campaign, as the weight of expectation is firmly on their shoulders to deliver a promotion charge.

Harris has proven his knack of getting into goalscoring areas from midfield, which is a mouth-watering prospect as Blues have recently completed the signing of Go-Ahead Eagles' Willum Thor Willumsson, who scored seven times in the Eredivisie last season.