"To be brutally honest" - Birmingham City backed to sign one Rangers star but avoid another | OneFootball

FLW's Birmingham fan pundit Mike Gibbs has given his verdict on the potential permanent signings of Kieran Dowell and Ben Davies

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 are interested in completing permanent moves for Rangers loanees Kieran Dowell and Ben Davies this summer.

According to Birmingham Live, the Blues are keen to extend both players’ stay at St. Andrew’s after they helped the club gain promotion to the Championship.

Davies arrived last summer and made 35 appearances in League One across the campaign, with the team winning the title with a record tally of 111 points.

Meanwhile, Dowell arrived in the winter market, and contributed five goals and four assists from 19 appearances in the league.

Dowell and Davies transfer claims

When asked about the club potentially signing both players, FLW’s Birmingham fan pundit Mike Gibbs claimed he’d prefer to only see Davies arrive on a permanent basis.

He believes the defender can provide a strong level of cover as third or fourth choice, but suggested a greater refresh of the team’s attacking options is needed for life in the Championship.

“I think I’d probably sign Ben Davies but I’m not overly sure about Kieran Dowell,” Gibbs told Football League World.

“So, I think Ben Davies, in terms of the four centre-halves we’re going to need, we’ve got [Phil] Neumann, [Christoph] Klarer, I think there’s question marks on [Krystian] Bielik, question marks on Dion Sanderson, Grant Hanley’s contract will be up.

“For me, Ben Davies would be an excellent third or fourth choice, it’s whether he’d be happy with that, to be brutally honest.

“But I think he’d be great.

“Kieran Dowell I think showed flashes of excellence, and was really good, but did go off the boil a little bit towards the end and I just wonder whether we need a complete shake-up across the whole top line, really, apart from Stansfield up top, maybe May coming off the bench.

“I do wonder whether we need a bit of a refresh in that area.”

Dowell and Davies would be solid Championship options

Bringing in Dowell and Davies could be a smart bit of business for Birmingham for next season.

While neither may prove regular starters in the Championship, they can both provide strong cover at both ends of the pitch, which will be very useful for the intensity of the second division.

They already know the team, as well as Chris Davies and his style of play, so it should be a smooth transition to make a permanent deal.

Birmingham.