Abdoulie Manneh update emerges amid failed Birmingham City and Coventry City transfer chase | OneFootball

The Gambian forward was heavily linked with a move to both West Midlands clubs in January

Swedish Allsvenskan side, Mjallby AIF, have issued an update over the situation involving their prized asset and star forward, Abdoulie Manneh, who was the subject of failed transfer interest from both Birmingham City and Coventry City in the winter transfer window.

Birmingham and the Sky Blues have been two of the most talked-about sides in this season's Championship, as the two West Midlands sides have their sights firmly set on the Premier League in what remains of the current campaign.

At present, it is Coventry who are in a stronger position to end what has been a 25-year exile from the top-flight of English football, with Frank Lampard's side getting over a recently alarming dip in results and performance levels by putting second-placed Middlesbrough to the sword on Monday night, largely down to Haji Wright's stellar performance and hat-trick.

Meanwhile, Blues are currently locked in a dramatic and ever-changing multi-club dogfight for at least one of the four play-off places on offer at the end of the season, with Chris Davies' side currently enjoying a six-game unbeaten run in the league, which was kickstarted by a statement 3-2 success over the Sky Blues at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park on January 4th.

Last season's record-breaking League One champions are currently sat in 11th, having taken 46 points from 32 games played thus far, which sees them two points behind Derby County in sixth at this moment in time.

It was widely reported that both Davies and Lampard had courted the services of Manneh in the lead-up to, and throughout, the winter window, with the Gambian international putting up impressive performances and numbers for the Swedish champions, as well as being a highly-rated prospect.

However, neither club could complete a deal for one reason or another, with Manneh's current employers offering their understanding of the situation ahead of their return to competitive action this weekend.

Fresh update emerges on Mjallby AIF's Abdoulie Manneh after failed Birmingham City, Coventry City transfers

After becoming the subject of interest from Premier League clubs such as Wolves, Burnley, AFC Bournemouth and Brighton and Hove Albion in the summer, Manneh became linked with a potential move to the CBS Arena in November as Coventry sat pretty at the top of the Championship standings.

It was reported that Mjallby were looking to close a deal for the seven-goal winger and four-time international at a fee of approximately £3.6m, added to the fact that Stoke City were also claimed to have expressed an interest.

In the early stages of the winter transfer window, it was initially stated that a deal had been struck between Birmingham and Mjallby on Sunday, January 11th, and that the 21-year-old was expected to be present at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park to complete the deal's formalities.

That was until Football League World exclusively revealed less than 48 hours later that the deal was off due to a stalemate in talks, albeit the clear-cut reasonings behind such developments were unknown.

It has now been revealed by Mjallby that Manneh returned to first-team training on Wednesday afternoon, with the club issuing a statement including Manneh's thoughts, and that of CEO, Jacob Lennartsson on a dramatic start to 2026.

"As we have previously confirmed, Manneh has been in dialogue with the club to explore the possibility of a transfer during the winter window. However, we have not found a solution where all parties have been satisfied, which means that Manneh remains a Mjällby AIF player. The situation has not been optimal, either for the player or the club, but we believe that we made the best decision based on the current conditions. The dialogue has been good throughout the process and Abdoulie is now fully focused on contributing with strong performances for Mjällby AIF,"said Lennartsson.

It is fair to say, though, that neither Birmingham or Coventry will be feeling any major form of transfer regret over the aforementioned chain of events.

Both Davies and Lampard were able to strengthen their wide options, with Blues loaning in Ibrahim Osman and acquiring Carlos Vicente, whilst the league leaders moved to loan Romain Esse from Crystal Palace, as well as signing Jahnoah Markelo from FC Zurich.

Birmingham were also able to turn Patrick Roberts' loan move from Sunderland into a permanent deal on the final day of an extremely active and successful window at St. Andrew's, as they look to potentially join City back in the Premier League in the coming months.