Chris Davies drops Birmingham City transfer update involving Sunderland star | OneFootball

The Sunderland loanee has been in fine form for Blues this season

Birmingham City manager Chris Davies has issued a fresh round of comments regarding the possibility of turning Patrick Roberts' current loan switch from Sunderland into a permanent transfer.

The winger was one of 14 permanent or temporary additions made to Davies' squad at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park in an extremely active summer transfer window that saw a plethora of high-profile names and seasoned Championship campaigners move to this part of the West Midlands.

Such ambitions and funding from American ownership consortium, Knighthead Capital Management, hasn't fully aligned with Birmingham's current status in the Championship table, albeit they are now just seven points outside the second tier play-off places with 19 matches still to play.

After a winless run of seven league games turned up the heat on Davies' shoulders, the former Tottenham Hotspur assistant's job security was, once again, reiterated in the lead-up to Sunday lunchtime's pivotal and unexpected success over local rivals and Championship leaders, Coventry City.

As has so often been the case since moving from the Stadium of Light on Deadline Day in September, Roberts was at the beating heart of Blues' strong attacking play, as he posted two further assists to his impressive tally for the season thus far.

After initially setting up Lewis Koumas for his first goal in royal blue, which restored Blues' advantage on 17 minutes, the former Manchester City wide player's through ball sent two-goal hero, Marvin Ducksch, through to seal the winner in front of the Tilton with 27 minutes remaining.

It has already been discussed at length just how important the next four weeks could be in determining the eventual outcome of Blues' season, with the club's transfer plans widely reported.

Football League World exclusively revealed that as many as eight departures could be finalised between now and February 3rd, which includes the loan deals which brought Koumas and Brighton and Hove Albion defender, Eiran Cashin - who has since joined Blackburn Rovers - to St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park.

As such, there is the potential for two loan spots to be vacated in Davies' ranks, and there could soon be the potential of a third if Roberts is to earn himself a permanent move after his impressive displays.

Chris Davies backs up Tom Wagner claim on Birmingham City, Sunderland transfer saga involving Patrick Roberts

Whilst no option-to-buy was inserted in the initial loan switch which took Roberts to the Second City in the Autumn, the 28-year-old's immediate future has since been discussed at length due to a multitude of factors.

The most obvious of those, of course, has been his impact on the side alongside Demarai Gray on either flank, as he has now posted two goals and four assists in 22 league appearances, whilst offering Blues plenty of craft and dynamism.

In November, Davies kept his cards particularly close to his chest when discussing the scope which Birmingham had to strike a permanent deal either in the winter transfer window or next summer, with Roberts' contract at Sunderland set to expire in June.

In the days between Christmas and New Year's Day, though, Blues chairman, Tom Wagner, issued a message over the potential of a swift deal for Davies' one-time Celtic colleague, telling the Telegraph: “We’re working really hard there."

"January is always tough because the number of options that are available to you is always lower.

“But we’ve got a few things that we’d like to accomplish, and areas where we think we can find additional talent to support our existing squad.

Birmingham Live now claim that Sunderland are willing to offload Roberts this window in a bid to gain some funds for the man they signed in January 2022, with Davies backing up Wagner's aforementioned claims.

“There's not many with more quality than him in the Championship, but he puts a shift in," said the Blues boss.

“I know the club are talking a lot to him around how he's feeling here and how it's going. I think he's been a really good loan signing for us so we'll see where we can go with that.”

Birmingham City, Patrick Roberts deal has made sense for some time

As previously mentioned, this is a deal which has made sense for some time, and is also one which would not take a huge amount of cash to finalise, given the fact there is very little time left on Roberts' Black Cats deal.

Having worn the T-shirt in Sunderland's play-off-winning campaign last time out, the winger has continued his fine form, and Blues supporters will feel their club are certainly getting value for money.

It remains to be seen what the long-term future will hold for Roberts, given Birmingham's well-publicised ambition, but in the here and now and for next season, if promotion is not achieved, there are not many shrewder deals the Midlands club could pull off.