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Explained: The transfer status of every Birmingham City player as John Eustace begins rebuild
John Eustace knows only too well that Birmingham City’s squad will look very different next season.
After a season of laying foundations, Eustace and his coaching staff will have to lay some more next term with a new set of players. Only five players who started Blues’ final day defeat to Sheffield United are under contract for next season.
Six senior players have officially been released and five more have returned to their parent clubs at the end of their loan spells. Blues have subsequently been left with 17 senior contracted players, seven of whom have limited first team experience. Here we assess the transfer status of all of those still under contract ahead of the opening of the summer window…
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John Ruddy
Contract expires: 2024
Ruddy, 36, joined Blues last year after four seasons of warming Wolves’ bench and there were some doubts over whether he would be able to recapture the form which made him one of the Championship’s most dependable shot-stoppers previously. He erased those fears within weeks on his way to 14 clean sheets and the Players’ Player of the Year award in his first season with Blues. If Troy Deeney’s contract isn’t extended, which looks likely at this moment in time, Ruddy is a leading contender to replace him as captain.
Neil Etheridge
Contract expires: 2024
Back-ups don’t come much more decorated than Etheridge in the Championship. His performance at Millwall offered a timely reminder that Etheridge still has a lot to offer at this level. With Ruddy now undisputed number one, Etheridge could be an attractive option to Championship clubs in need of a new goalkeeper. You get the feeling Blues wouldn’t stand in Etheridge’s way if they could land an alternative and lower their wage bill in the process.
Zach Jeacock
Contract expires: 2024
Jeacock wasn’t afforded any game-time last season and isn’t likely to get any next term with Ruddy and Etheridge ahead of him in the pecking order. Now 22, Jeacock – who has played four times in the Championship for Blues – would benefit from another loan spell after previous stints with Gloucester and Salford City.
Marc Roberts
Contract expires: 2024 (plus one year option)
The defender produced some commendable performances alongside Kevin Long at the tailend of the season. Roberts is the only senior contracted defender for next season, which gives him an advantage over those that arrive at the club this summer.
Nico Gordon
Contract expires: 2024
The fact there was some doubt as to whether Blues would indeed take up their option to extend Gordon’s contract shows how far the youngster’s stock has fallen in the last 12 months. A disrupted summer set him back last year and Eustace overlooked Gordon for the entire campaign. He needs to make a big impression in pre-season, otherwise a loan move would appear to be his best bet.
Manny Longelo
Contract expires: 2026
Longelo has some defensive flaws in his game that Eustace is trying to eradicate. The youngster wasn’t considered for a starting spot at left-back when Eustace switched formation in the final few months of the season after starring at left wing-back before the World Cup. Blues will try to bring in a more experienced left-sided option to compete with Longelo.
Juninho Bacuna
Contract expires: 2025
With two goals and six assists to his name last term, Bacuna was one of Blues’ most productive players in possession. While Bacuna clearly has areas within his game to improve, he has offered value-for-money since arriving from Rangers 18 months ago. Eustace loves energetic, box-to-box midfielders and Bacuna has those qualities in abundance.
Tahith Chong
Contract expires: 2026
Talent-wise, Chong is one of the jewels in Blues’ crown. Few players in Eustace’s squad can match the ability of the Dutch winger. He has thrived on the right wing and centrally when Eustace deployed a 3-5-2 shape, and Chong will be important for Blues when he returns from injury.
Jordan James
Contract expires: 2025 (plus one year option)
James will remember last season fondly for his international journey with Wales, but he will head into the new season craving more game-time at club level. He hasn’t been touted for transfers to the same extent as George Hall and Jobe Bellingham, but James is another Blues youngster attracting interest. At this stage, James seems more likely to stay than Hall and Bellingham and has a contract which provides Blues with some security.
Gary Gardner
Contract expires: 2024
Gardner only played 249 minutes of Championship football last term due to troublesome calf and back injuries. Blues missed his experience in the engine room and Gardner now faces a crucial 12 months with his contract up for renewal.
Alfie Chang
Contract expires: 2024 (plus one year option)
Youngster Chang has proven himself to be a useful option for Eustace to earn his place in the first team. He made 13 appearances in the Championship in the last campaign and will be targeting more in the next.
Jobe Bellingham
Contract expires: 2024
In the same way one Bellingham did right by Blues in the summer of 2020, now might be the time for Blues to do right by the other Bellingham. The fact Jobe was recently spotted at a Sunderland game suggests there is something more than merely family friendships on offer there. Blues will want to be handsomely compensated and the reported £3million figure seems reasonable.
George Hall
Contract expires: 2024
Hall is the youngster Blues are most desperate to keep. The 18-year-old is extremely highly-rated by Eustace and will have an important role to play next season if he sticks around. That is a big if at the moment though due to Hall’s dwindling contract.
Scott Hogan
Contract expires: 2024
Blues’ top scorer hopes to return fit and healthy for pre-season after undergoing surgery to repair a groin injury which plagued him post-Christmas. Hogan can be frustrating at times, but he is the most proven source of goals in the squad and – if he can remain fit for the entire season – has the ability to push comfortably past his best Blues haul of 10.
Lukas Jutkiewicz
Contract expires: 2024
Eustace himself can take this one. “Jukey was a proper man mountain for those last 10, 15 games. He really took the responsibility on his shoulders and said, ‘I’m going to be the man’. I want people to stand up and be counted and I think he did that.” Jutkiewicz might not be Blues’ first choice striker next term, but you just know he will end up playing an important role.
Returning loanees
Ivan Sunjic
Contract expires: 2024
It is no secret that Blues would part ways with Sunjic if they could find a buyer. The club won’t be able to recoup much, if anything, of the £6m-plus they paid to Dinamo Zagreb to secure Sunjic’s services in 2019. At this stage, getting his hefty wage off the books is more important.
Sam Cosgrove
Contract expires: 2024
Unless any offers arrive for Cosgrove before pre-season kicks off at the end of June, he will be reintegrated at Blues. Having watched Cosgrove net 12 goals for Plymouth last term, Eustace says he plans to take another look at the striker. Only time will tell whether Cosgrove can force his way into the reckoning at St Andrew’s now having failed to do it in his first two-and-a-half years at the club.
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