Birmingham City duo pinpointed for January transfer exits - 46-cap international is "top of the list" | OneFootball

FLW's Blues fan pundit has debated the long-term futures of Lyndon Dykes and Marc Leonard at St. Andrew's

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Birmingham City's recent upsurge has been well-documented, with the West Midlands side adopting a rather ruthless outlook when it comes to moulding a highly-competitive Championship squad.

Blues entered the second tier off the back of, unarguably, the most historic season in EFL history, as Chris Davies and his side swept away all before them in League One to accrue a stunning total of 111 points and 34 wins across 46 league games, as well as going deep into the FA Cup and EFL Trophy.

Bankrolled by Knighthead Capital Management's hefty investment, there is a strong desire in this part of the Second City to see the club end its lengthy hiatus from the Premier League, which has lasted ever since the summer of 2011 - just months after the greatest achievement in Birmingham's 150-year history as they defeated Arsenal in the EFL Cup final.

As such, a high amount of turnover took place for the second successive summer at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park as several players - including some who'd only joined Blues last year - were deemed surplus to requirements, with their departures paving the way for numerous high-profile incomings such as Kyogo Furuhashi, Marvin Ducksch, Tommy Doyle, Patrick Roberts, Bright Osayi-Samuel and many others.

As last season showcased, a full squad must be utilised in order to achieve short and long-term success. However, two months into the season, some in royal blue have seen their chances of regular minutes take a massive hit, and FLW's Blues fan pundit, Jason Moore, believes two players could look to move on in January as a result.

Lyndon Dykes & Marc Leonard viewed as potential Birmingham City departures

The first of Moore's selections came in the form of striker, Lyndon Dykes.

Dykes joined Blues last summer from Queens Park Rangers following their relegation to League One. Yet, despite his reputation, the powerful centre-forward was often third-choice behind Jay Stansfield and Alfie May.

With that being said, he was still the scorer of some important and impressive goals across all competitions, and that trend has certainly continued this season with 98th-minute and 94th-minute strikes that have secured six of Blues' 12 points thus far against Blackburn Rovers and Swansea City.

With the 30-year-old only making two starts thus far after seeing a loan switch to Hibernian fall through, in order to enhance his chances of remaining as part of Steve Clarke's plans for the Scotland national side, who he has 46 caps and 10 goals for, Moore believes he could have one eye on the January window already.

"Thinking logically about it, we're trying to build a squad capable of getting into the Premier League, so I can't imagine there being too many players we're going to want to cash in on," he told FLW.

"I think Lyndon Dykes is still top of that list," he explained.

"I think he's still going to want to play games and keep making sure he's getting in the Scotland squad.

"Yes he's had a few games for us, but I can't see how long that lasts for."

Moore then pinpointed his colleague and compatriot, Marc Leonard, as another figure who could move on from St. Andrew's in the coming months.

The 23-year-old was seen as a major coup for Blues last year following a £500,000 switch from Brighton. However, he has failed to pin down a starting spot alongside or ahead of Seung-Ho Paik and Tomoki Iwata and now Doyle, who joined on loan from Wolves.

Leonard was also the subject of reported transfer interest from Huddersfield Town in July, and made his only league start of the campaign against Wrexham on October 3.

"Maybe, potentially Marc Leonard (will leave)," Moore added. "But, if they cash in on Marc Leonard, I don't think that's a club choice, I think that's his choice.

"I think that's him turning around and saying 'I want more football', which is fair.

"He was pretty good at Wrexham. But, if it comes to January and he's still not playing tonnes of football, I think he'll want to go."

Lyndon Dykes and Marc Leonard may feel the time is right to leave Birmingham City

As Moore stated, there aren't many players who Blues will be actively looking to move on, or will be seeking an individual move for their own good in the coming weeks and months.

It is clear that Dykes has built up a strong affinity with Bluenoses for his late goals in vital encounters, with said contributions also earning him a start in North Wales over Furuhashi, whilst Ducksch has now had a further two-week interval in order to get up to speed after joining from Werder Bremen with minor fitness issues.

The same can be said for Leonard, who put in a steady performance against Phil Parkinson's side, but was also subject to criticism as he captained a second-string Blues side in their EFL Cup defeat to Port Vale back in August.

The midfielder was very highly-rated at the AMEX Stadium and after two impressive loan stints at Northampton Town. At 23, he will be seeking gametime week-in, week-out.

With the duo set to have one and two years left on their respective contracts next June, it wouldn't be the biggest of shocks to see them leave in the not-too-distant future.