Birmingham City Told To Strike A Cut-Price Of £5m For Summer Transfer Deal For loan Star

Birmingham City have been told to strike a cut-price summer transfer deal with Rangers for Kieran Dowell, who has impressed since moving to the Second City on loan in January.

The acquisition of Dowell, who has previously turned out for a number of English Football League clubs including Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United and Norwich City, represented yet another indicator of Blues’ superior pulling power in the transfer market.

Dowell had never previously played below the second-tier and has spared little time in settling in and bolstering the side’s title charge.

The 27-year-old has worked his way into Chris Davies’ starting side, repaying that faith with three goals from his opening 10 League One outings. including successive strikes from the spot in victories over Lincoln City and Stevenage.

He had been deemed surplus to requirements at Rangers, though, and with just one year remaining on his Ibrox deal once the current campaign concludes, Birmingham have been encouraged to land his services on a permanent basis.

According to reports, the agreement is a straight loan with no permanent purchase option included – but that’s not to say Rangers will be against selling Dowell at the right price this summer.

Birmingham City, Kieran Dowell transfer verdict offered

FLW asked our resident Bluenose fan pundit, Mike Gibbs, whether he believes Birmingham should be trying to sign Dowell permanently this summer and, if so, at what kind of cost.

Although Mike stopped short of declaring an “acceptable” fee for the playmaker, he can foresee a potential cut-price deal being struck with Rangers in a move which would likely go down well with the wider Blues faithful.

“Price-wise, I don’t really know. I haven’t got a clue,” Mike told FLW.

“He’s been out of favour at Rangers. You would like to think that, based on that, we’re not talking multiple millions here.

“I think if you said to me he was [valued at] half a million quid, for example, you would say ‘that’s an absolute snip’. I’d bite your hand off.

“But if you said £5 million, you’d say ‘that’s a bit steep’. You’re not going to pay that much money, so I think a number of factors come into it to determine that price.”

Kieran Dowell’s Championship experience could help Birmingham City next season

Dowell is well-versed in the second-tier, which would surely make him an attractive proposition to try and retain in Davies’ squad heading into next season.

Blues already have one foot back in the Championship and are 14 points clear of second-placed Wycombe Wanderers. Birmingham have a longer-term plan in place beyond simply achieving promotion from League One, which they are poised to do as champions, so it’s perfectly reasonable for them to place a degree of focus on next season.

A player of Dowell’s experience could help Birmingham across a 46-game second-tier slog which could spring some surprises, although one would have to wonder whether he has the consistency to remain a starter if Blues intend on successive promotions.