Birmingham City could look to Man Utd should Fulham nightmare occur | OneFootball

If a nightmare occurs and Birmingham City lose Jay Stansfield this month, they could look towards Manchester United to sign a replacement striker in Joe Hugill.

Stansfield has been the standout performer for the Blues this season, despite a disappointing campaign so far. Since Wayne Rooney took over as manager in October, the club won just two of their 15 matches and quickly dropped from sixth in the table to 20th.

Rooney was recently sacked from his role as manager, and the situation could go from bad to worse, with rumours that Stansfield could be recalled from his loan from the club before the end of the season.

If that is the case, then Birmingham will have to look for a replacement striker in the January transfer window, with Hugill an interesting player for them to look at this season.

Fulham could recall Stansfield

Recent reports from Football Insider indicate that Fulham could be set to recall Stansfield from his loan deal at Birmingham, dealing a huge blow to the club's plans for the season ahead.

The striker is being targeted by Ipswich Town, who are looking to strengthen their challenge for promotion with the addition of a new striker, with seven-goal Stansfield identified as a target for the January transfer window.

The recent injury of George Hirst has necessitated a transfer in January for a new striker at Ipswich and any deal for Stansfield would be a fantastic replacement for such an important player in their team.

Stansfield has proven his goalscoring credentials this season at Birmingham, and could be the push that Ipswich need to make it into the Premier League next season.

However, he would be a huge loss for Birmingham, and they will need to sign a replacement to stave off relegation down to League One.

With Birmingham likely to be in the market for a new striker in this transfer window, they could aim to bring in United striker Hugill on loan on a six-month deal.

With the likes of Scott Hogan and Lukas Jutkiewicz struggling to find the net consistently this season, the new Blues boss could take a chance on a highly-rated youngster from one of England's biggest clubs.

with the Red Devils, so a permanent transfer is unlikely. However, a loan deal until the end of the season could be a better option, as Hugill attracted interest from various EFL clubs in January.

Hugill has yet to make his first-team debut for United, but has been ever-present for their under-23 side this season, scoring seven times in his first nine matches this season.

United boss Erik Ten Hag has yet to hand the former Sunderland youngster his debut at Old Trafford, but did include Hugill on the bench for the Red Devil's 3-0 victory over Everton earlier in the season.

While it does appear Ten Hag sees potential in Hugill, minutes are the most important thing to the 20-year-old's development at the moment. A move to the Championship where, due to the under-performance of Birmingham's forwards, a starting berth in the squad seems all-but confirmed, seems like the ideal move for Hugill.