Fresh claim made on Eiran Cashin situation at Birmingham City as Brighton ready decision | OneFootball

It's looking increasingly likely that the 24-year-old centre-back is heading back to the south-coast in January

A fresh claim has emerged regarding the future of Eiran Cashin at Birmingham City, with the defender's loan move to the Second City having failed to go to plan quite just yet.

The 24-year-old centre-back joined Blues on a season-long loan from Brighton & Hove Albion in the summer, but has failed to establish himself at St Andrew's.

Across just six Championship games so far, Cashin has only started once and played a total of 188 minutes under Chris Davies, with Christoph Klarer and Phil Neumann locking down the heart of Blues' defence.

So it's perhaps not a surprise to learn that reports suggest the Seagulls are prepared to recall him in the new year.

Brighton & Hove Albion prepared to pull plug on Eiran Cashin's Birmingham City loan

Brighton are expected to recall Cashin when the January window opens for business, as per a creport from Birmingham Live.

The defender was hugely impressive during his time at Derby County after rising through the Rams' ranks before his £9m move to the Premier League in January, but has failed to take his limited chances to impress Davies since being out on loan.

Given the fact that the Republic of Ireland U21 notched up 144 appearances for the Rams and captained the side on occasion, he had earned a reputation as one of the most exciting centre-backs in the country.

The report also claims that Birmingham are aware of this recall situation likely happening, but there is an acceptance within the club that they need to sort their defence out this winter anyway.

It has been suggested that Davies must ensure Blues come out of the January window with a stronger back-line than what he started the season with.

This is essentially admitting that the Cashin loan has not proven to be the masterstroke many might have anticipated.

Calls for Birmingham City to sign a 'left-footed Christoph Klarer' in January

Clearly, a recall from Brighton would leave Davies on the lookout to find reinforcements at centre-back, but, as mentioned earlier, the club's hierarchy have seemingly already accepted that reality.

Birmingham Live mentions that ‘a left-footed Christoph Klarer’ would be the ideal Cashin replacement, and it’s hard to argue with that. Although, with the latter being left-footed himself, it's probably a kick in the teeth.

The outlet then describes needing another centre-back who can put their body on the line and win duels, whilst also being comfortable on the ball - which basically describes how Cashin used to play for Derby.

But, quite obviously, the integration of Cashin has proven more complicated than first thought - and he probably thought he was coming in to start every week from the off.

Being Blues’ captain and having just signed a new contract until 2029, Klarer’s position in the team is almost a certainty. While Phil Neumann has established himself as the primary partner alongside him, if Cashin was sent back and another player was brought in, competition for that spot would surely heat up.

Jack Robinson obviously filled in at left-back against QPR for Alex Cochrane, but normally he'd be in front of Cashin for minutes in the centre if anything happened to either one of Klarer or Neumann.