Confirmed: Birmingham City hold Liverpool talks to sort attacker situation | OneFootball

Lewis Koumas has been the subject of recall talk between Blues and Liverpool

Birmingham City have agreed an extension with last season's Premier League champions, Liverpool, on the timescale in which the Reds can opt to recall Lewis Koumas from his current loan stint at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park.

Such developments were revealed by Blues manager Chris Davies - via Birmingham Live - ahead of his side's upcoming trip to Swansea City on Saturday evening, where the West Midlands outfit will hope to put a stop to a dreadful recent run of away form that has seen them lose four successive fixtures on the bounce away from B9.

It has been a largely inconsistent season for last term's League One champions, who, under the ownership of Knighthead Capital Management, have made it no secret that their end aim is an eventual return to the Premier League for the first time in several years.

At present, Birmingham are 14th in the Championship, and will be looking to register back-to-back league victories for the first time in two months when they travel to South Wales this weekend - a game which Koumas is now expected to have a strong involvement in after his recent starts against Coventry City and Cambridge United, as well as the current lack of competition in his natural left-wing position at Davies' disposal.

Indeed, the Reds loanee and nine-time Wales international had been largely utilised as a backup to returning academy graduate, Demarai Gray, prior to the Jamaican international suffering a calf strain against Derby County on Boxing Day, which has since seen him sidelined until next month.

However, after taking up Gray's spot in the starting lineup, as well as recording his first Blues goal in the 3-2 success over the Championship leaders on January 4th, Football League World exclusively revealed that the initial expectation was that Koumas would return to Anfield ahead of the break clause deadline in his loan agreement, which, initially, was Thursday, January 15th.

But, the goalposts were somewhat shifted on that front when the Second City club failed in their pursuit of Mjallby AIF's seven-goal forward, Abdoulie Manneh, earlier in the week - developments which, again, were first called by FLW.

And, following the decision which saw Blues terminate Keshi Anderson's contract six months ahead of schedule on Wednesday, a fresh agreement has been struck between them and the Merseyside outfit, as Koumas is expected to feature, at least, against the Swans and in the following away trip to rock-bottom Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday night.

As previously mentioned, Koumas' situation at St. Andrew's became a hot topic of discussion in the lead-up to January, during a time when the 19-year-old had only been handed a select few opportunities to make his mark in games, largely from the substitutes' bench.

Davies revealed that he was in constant liaison with Liverpool over what the future may hold for the man who was on loan with fellow second tier outfit, Stoke City, last season, before the subsequent situation involving both Gray and Anderson left Blues somewhat short-changed in terms of options, with no other natural senior left-wingers in the building.

It was expected that Koumas would follow the same path as Eiran Cashin, who was recalled by Brighton and Hove Albion in the first week of the current transfer window, before he was sent on loan to Blackburn Rovers for the remainder of the campaign.

However, whilst such a situation may still pan out, Blues and Liverpool have agreed to an extension whilst Davies looks to add further reinforcements in this department.

“We have extended that (loan recall window)," said Davies. “He’s playing and doing well.

“We’ve had discussions with Liverpool and everyone is happy right now. He’s with us and an important player. He’s enjoying his football right now.

“We want to make sure Lewis is happy. From the club side, Liverpool, and everyone is on the same page. Right now, as we speak, he has just been in the team for two games in a row, got a goal and done well, I think all parties see it as let’s let him focus on the next few matches and see where it goes from there," the Blues boss added.

As Davies mentioned, Koumas' availability has been important for him in recent weeks, although it still remains to be seen what final decision is made on the Chester-born winger's future.

Such conversations have also been held whilst links between Blues and FC Basel's Nigerian wide man, Philip Otele, have resurfaced, according to GiveMeSport.

It was reported last month that Blues were facing competition from Crystal Palace for the 28-year-old. However, whilst the same publication have reiterated the Championship side's interest, Basel are said to have dropped their minimal asking price, whilst competition from Wolves, AFC Bournemouth, Lazio and Celtic has come to the fore.