Exclusive: What Emile Heskey has said on Birmingham City's Kwame Poku chase as Sunderland, Sheffield United lurk | OneFootball

Former Birmingham City forward Emile Heskey believes the West Midlands outfit are favourites to land Peterborough United star Kwame Poku.

Former England international Emile Heskey has backed Peterborough United star Kwame Poku to pick Birmingham City as his new destination during the summer transfer window.

Blues are expected to be a force in the Championship next season with the financial resources possessed by owner Tom Wagner, with the West Midlands-based club set to be heavily backed in order to fight towards the upper ends of the second tier table.

According to a report by Give Me Sport, Birmingham City have offered Kwame Poku a contract to link up with Chris Davies next season, but the club will have to be wary of interest from the likes of Sunderland and Sheffield United for the 23-year-old.

Birmingham’s director of football, Craig Gardner, has reportedly pitched the club’s offer to Poku and his agent over Zoom, but Sunderland ending their exodus from the Premier League could be a problem as the Black Cats will have additional spending and pulling power.

Another report from Give Me Sport has outlined how Scottish duo Celtic and Rangers are also eyeing up a move for the winger, so it’s set to be an intriguing saga as to where Poku will play his football next season.

With this in mind, ex-Birmingham City frontman Emile Heskey weighed in with his thoughts over Blues’ chances of landing the exciting forward.

Emile Heskey believes Birmingham City can lure Kwame Poku to the West Midlands

Speaking exclusively to Football League World (via Poker Scout), Emile Heskey, who scored 16 goals from 78 appearances for Blues between 2004 and 2006, has backed the club to secure the signing of Kwame Poku, who was a livewire in the third tier this campaign.

Heskey said: “With Birmingham’s aspirations and their blueprint, it’s hard for players to turn that down. A lot of players go off ‘what does the future hold for the club and what are their plans’, and Birmingham is a very bold plan, so it’s hard for players to turn that down. If it does come to fruition then they can say ‘I was part of that’, which is great and that’s what everyone wants.

“They’re (Birmingham) probably sitting at the forefront, Sunderland have gone into the Premier League, got a bit of money to spend, so it’ll be an interesting one.”

Kwame Poku signing would be a statement of intent from Birmingham City

Kwame Poku was one of the biggest forward threats in League One this season, with the 23-year-old raising the eyebrows of so many EFL clubs after his 12 goals and eight assists from 27 league appearances.

At such a young age, there’s huge potential in the forward, and after such a successful League One term, he deserves an opportunity to translate his quality and attacking output to the level above.

With so little depth on the right flank for Blues, there is almost a guarantee that Poku would get regular first-team gametime under Chris Davies, while there’s doubt over a consistent place in the Sunderland setup as they continually aim to bolster their squad ahead of a top-flight return.

A move to an ambitious Birmingham side could be appealing for Poku to see if he can cut it in the Championship, and other EFL clubs are sure to sit up and take notice if a deal gets over the line this summer.