Birmingham City transfer action involving £500k midfielder makes sense on one condition | OneFootball

Marc Leonard's time at St. Andrew's could be reaching a swift end

It is shaping up to be an extremely busy transfer window for Birmingham City and Chris Davies, as the club hope to compete for a play-off spot in the remaining four months of the season.

Blues have generated plenty of talking points through the activity which they have conducted, both in terms of incomings and outgoings, in the 18 months which Davies has overseen since being handed his first full-time managerial role by Tom Wagner.

Both summer windows in his tenure thus far have seen record-breaking levels of spending on an individual and collective level, largely down to the eight-figure sums which brought the attacking duo of Jay Stansfield and Kyogo Furuhashi to St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park in August 2024 and July 2025 respectively, albeit one of those deals has worked out significantly better than the other.

That is also the way in which many are opting to assess the performances of Birmingham's 14 permanent and temporary signings that were made in an attempt to bolster Davies' record-breaking League One squad into looking like an immediate Championship force.

Five months into the season, it is hard to look past the wide duo of Demarai Gray and Patrick Roberts in terms of standout performers, whilst, aside from a rash tackle and red at Sheffield United on December 20th, the same can also be said for Wolves loanee, Tommy Doyle.

Just days into a critical winter transfer window in B9, Football League World understand that as many as eight players could depart the Second City between now and February 2nd, with many of those in question failing to receive what they would deem regular minutes.

Marc Leonard is one man who falls into said category, despite the fact the Scottish midfielder arrived at St. Andrew's from Brighton and Hove Albion in 2024 off the back of rave reviews through two loan stints at Northampton Town.

However, his spell in the Second City could soon be reaching a swift conclusion, with developments perfectly embodying how those in the terraces have assessed the Scot's 18 months at the club - in a divisive manner.

Marc Leonard continues to be the subject of exit talk at Birmingham City

It was deemed a significant coup when reports emerged that Birmingham had parted with just £500,000 for the technically-gifted midfielder's services from the Seagulls on a four-year contract.

Yet, despite starting all of Blues' first three league games in League One last term, the Edinburgh-born man swiftly fell victim to the statement signing of Tomoki Iwata from Celtic, with the Japanese forming an almost unbreakable partnership with Paik Seung-ho.

Although he made just 23 starts across Blues' 60 outings in all competitions, this wasn't through a lack of ability from Leonard, who still amassed five assists. As such, it was debated whether he would become part of a major squad cull in the summer, with the likes of Krystian Bielik and Alfie May moved on to West Bromwich Albion and Huddersfield Town.

The Scot was reportedly of interest to the Terriers, although a reunion with May at this season's third tier promotion favourites would fail to materialise.

Again, the midfielder's reliability and mentality has never been doubted when called upon, although he has since fallen down the pecking order after Doyle's loan switch from the Premier League's bottom club.

As such, Leonard has been reduced to just 852 competitive minutes in 2025/26, making it rather self-explanatory as to why the midfielder has grown frustrated, as he was omitted from Davies' squad for the dramatic 3-2 victory over Coventry City on Sunday.

The likes of Sheffield United and Norwich City are reportedly keen on taking the former Hearts man, although Birmingham's current stance on the matter also makes complete sense.

Despite a raft of summer incomings, Blues had, on occasions, been left particularly short on defensive options in the first half of the season - an issue Davies cannot afford to see replicated across other areas.

Understandably, the 40-year-old will be reluctant to stand in Leonard's way if the right opportunity arises. However, it has been said that an exit for the Scotland youth international will only be sanctioned if further reinforcements are sourced.

Football Insider recently claimed that Birmingham are targeting a 'Powerhouse' midfielder capable of breaking up play, which many supporters believe has been lacking, despite the combativeness shown by Paik, whilst Iwata has had to plug gaps at right-back due to the unavailability of Ethan Laird and Bright Osayi-Samuel.

This is the right stance for Davies to be taking, particularly with divisional rivals interested, such as the Blades, who are only two points behind Blues, who, themselves, are nine adrift of the top six with 19 games remaining.