5 Birmingham City players who'll surely leave in January ft £1.75m forward | OneFootball

FLW has looked at the players who could depart St. Andrew's in a matter of months

Birmingham City's ambition has certainly caught the eye of many Championship onlookers in recent times, and Chris Davies' side have certainly had a mixed, but also encouraging start to the current season.

Although 2025/26 was a season of mixed fortunes for Blues, a 10th-placed finish was still highly-respectable after winning the League One title the previous campaign, even if more was expected from those outside of the St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park walls.

Knighthead Capital Management have ploughed plenty of cash into the rebuilding project in this part of the world, both on and off the pitch, but after two high-profile recruitment drives last term, the number of recruits and the amount of money spent was certainly reined in by the Championship side in the most-recent transfer window.

However, there is still plenty of strength-in-depth and experience throughout certain areas of Davies' squad, which means that some will naturally miss out on regular minutes throughout the first half of the season.

With that in mind, Football League World have looked at five players who would appear the likeliest to leave the club in the January window.

Lee Buchanan

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Lee Buchanan's time with Birmingham has been a tale of immense misfortune, with the 25-year-old limited to less than 50 appearances across his three-year spell at St. Andrew's.

The Derby County academy graduate arrived from Werder Bremen on a five-year contract, but has not featured in a league outing under Davies since suffering a serious knee injury against Blackpool in December 2024.

Buchanan has since returned to fitness in pre-season, but was targeted by both Luton Town and Reading in the summer after the arrival of Kristoffer Lund to compete with Alex Cochrane for a starting berth at left-back.

Therefore, whilst he has made the substitutes bench at times this season, as well as featuring against Swansea City in the EFL Cup, a parting of ways could be best for all involved.

Taylor Gardner-Hickman

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Taylor Gardner-Hickman's future also feels uncertain due to the competition for places within Davies' midfield, especially when himself and summer signing, Max Bird, are again available for selection.

The 24-year-old was initially loaned in, and then signed permanently from Bristol City, although shortly after the long-term switch was finalised, the versatile figure spent last season on loan with Blackburn Rovers.

He has since been sidelined with an unspecified long-term injury since the pre-season friendly with Burton Albion, though, which has hindered his chances of staking a claim to be involved on a regular basis in terms of competitive minutes.

Marc Leonard

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Marc Leonard arrived from Brighton and Hove Albion in June 2024 as one of the EFL's hottest properties, but the Scotsman has also found it extremely tough to break his way into Davies' midfield.

The Glaswegian has made just 64 appearances in all competitions for Blues, and saw a loan move to Scottish Premiership title-chasers, Hearts, in January, where he certainly made a strong impression on former Tynecastle Park chief, Derek McInnes.

It was, therefore, expected that such strong form in limited appearances would aid a summer move, before Leonard unfortunately ruptured his achilles in May.

As a result, he is still on the road to recovery, but has been omitted from Davies' 25-man squad, at least for the short-term, meaning that an exit could be feasible in the winter if he returns to fitness.

Scott Wright

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Another omission from Davies' squad was Scott Wright, after the experienced winger failed to seal a summer move elsewhere.

Like Leonard, the 29-year-old has suffered his fair share of fitness issues in B9 since signing from Rangers in August 2024, having been sidelined from February to December 2025 with a knee injury.

Wright then also failed to make an impact on loan with Dundee FC post-Christmas due to further limitations in terms of gametime, but a fresh start is clearly needed, and with Carlos Vicente and Patrick Roberts favoured by Davies, it feels that will not be coming if he stuck around in the West Midlands.

Marvin Ducksch

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Marvin Ducksch has made plenty of headlines since his £1.75m move from Werder Bremen, but it feels as though his spell at Birmingham could come to an end in January, even though Davies recently outlined his own plans for the 32-year-old German.

Whilst also being involved in a serious car accident close to the club's training facility in April, the two-time international was the subject of intense exit talk this summer, although his pre-season was curtailed early on through injury.

However, whilst remaining as a rotation option for Blues at the start of the campaign, Ducksch continued to attract interest from Valencia, before the club rejected any late-window advances from the Spanish giants due to the attacker's involvement in the 1-1 draw with Southampton that particular night.

The experienced figure was said to have been perplexed as to how this impacted a potential move, and such feelings could make it interesting when the next transfer window comes around.