Birmingham City should move for £16m winger amid surprise Demarai Gray news | OneFootball

Gray's place in Chris Davies' lineup was taken up by Ibrahim Osman post-January

After a season of inconsistency across 2025/26, there will be plenty of expectation from Birmingham City supporters on their club to deliver a much more sustained promotion bid in the next year or so.

Given developments both on and off the pitch at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park, Blues have been one of the most talked about sides in the Championship, and, in truth, the EFL for some time.

Under the management of Chris Davies and the ownership of Knighthead Capital Management, there has been, to an extent, a large culture shift in this part of the West Midlands, but that in itself brings its own pressures.

Pressure on Birmingham to deliver, not just from their supporters, but those on the outside, has also come as a result of several eye-catching deals in the transfer market, particularly after the club were relegated to League One for the first time in 30 years two summers ago.

Months later, Tom Wagner backed Davies with a club-record deal to sign Jay Stansfield on a permanent basis, and after a title-winning season was achieved in record-breaking fashion, several other high-profile names have been brought to B9, either in the short or long-term.

However, with pre-season looming and the summer transfer window now open, two of those names who fell into said category will, no doubt, be on Davies' mind for very different reasons.

Demarai Gray could depart Birmingham City amid shock transfer talk

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Indeed, 14 new signings arrived at St. Andrew's last summer, with many expecting Davies' men to mount a push for the Championship play-offs for the first time as a result.

As well as bringing a vast array of experience, there was an understandable buzz when Demarai Gray returned to his boyhood club on a free transfer from Saudi Pro League side, Al-Ettifaq.

After breaking into the first-team fold at Blues as a youngster, Gray's journey had since taken him to Leicester City, Bayer Leverkusen, Everton and the Middle East, which included an overall total of 200 Premier League appearances, albeit only 33 goal contributions.

Yet besides the sentimentality, it was clear in the early weeks of the season why the Jamaican international had been signed by Davies, in particular, during a purple patch in November and early December, during which seven of his 10 goals and assists were posted.

But after a muscle injury and the early termination of Lewis Koumas' loan from Liverpool, part of Blues' latest squad reshuffle in January was to recruit another left-winger, and that came in the form of Brighton and Hove Albion winger, Ibrahim Osman, on a loan basis.

The 21-year-old was then largely able to keep Gray out of the starting lineup, and now it has emerged that the hometown ace could potentially depart before July 10th due to an exit clause in his contract, which has, rather unsurprisingly, alerted plenty of potential suitors.

As such, the need to target the same position in the market appears to be there again for Davies.

Birmingham City should push for permanent Ibrahim Osman deal if Demarai Gray leaves

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Given Brighton's recent history of recruiting extremely talented youngsters, there, again, was a large degree of excitement when the Ghanian winger moved to the Second City on loan, almost two years after the Seagulls parted with £16m to secure his services.

At such a young age, Osman's performances, naturally, ebbed and flowed in terms of successful contributions, with two goals and as many assists, whilst his speed is seen as a major threat for defences.

In March, Davies revealed that he was to train Osman in a specific way that meant his unpredictability would not be hampered, which would certainly have pleased those at the AMEX Stadium, as well as St. Andrew's, with Birmingham still eventually ending the campaign in good form after their play-off bid tailed off.

“I really like that about him. I don’t want to over-coach him so he’s not got this attacking spirit because he wants to turn, he wants to run at players and take them on and I don’t want to lose that. You can almost coach them too much and they think about keeping the ball," he said.

Blues have signed several players on permanent or loan moves from the Sussex club also, with Osman joining the likes of James Beadle, Eiran Cashin and Marc Leonard on that front, whilst left-back, Alex Cochrane, also progressed through their academy.

There was an option for Osman's prior loan employers, AJ Auxerre, to sign him permanently for £13m in the winter, but that wasn't taken up and paved the way for the move to Birmingham.

However, a permanent deal this summer, or at worst, another loan, would be a resolution to Gray's potential exit, as well as adding further continuity, as seen by the fresh four-year deal given to Jhon Solis, who impressed on loan from Girona FC in the second half of the campaign.