Fresh Birmingham City, Lewis Koumas update emerges as deal for 7-goal forward nears | OneFootball

Abdoulie Manneh's imminent arrival in B9 is set to impact the Liverpool loanee's future

A fresh update on the situation of Birmingham City loanee, Lewis Koumas, has emerged as the West Midlands side prepare to complete the signing of highly-rated Gambian winger, Abdoulie Manneh from Swedish Allsvenskan champions, Mjallby AIF.

According to Neil Moxley via GiveMeSport on Sunday afternoon, Manneh's imminent arrival at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park will have a knock-on effect regarding the Liverpool prospect, who has struggled to source regular minutes since moving to the Second City on loan from the Premier League champions last August.

Birmingham are currently 14th in the Championship after 26 games played. However, it has been well-documented that the club are on a mission to return to the Premier League as soon as possible for the first time since May 2011.

Despite returning to the second tier as League One's record-breaking winners, many tipped Blues to mount a sustained bid for the play-off places at a minimum throughout the campaign, with American hedge fund investor, Tom Wagner, continuing to provide manager Chris Davies with ample backing in the transfer market.

Davies recruited 14 new players across the summer on permanent or loan deals, but some of those who arrived across an extremely active previous window have already departed, with Eiran Cashin seeing his own loan stint from Brighton and Hove Albion cut short last week, before he linked up with divisional rivals, Blackburn Rovers, for the remainder of the campaign.

The club's transfer plans had been widely reported in the lead-up to the current window, which will close at 7PM on Monday, February 2nd, with many believing the next few weeks will be critical in helping determine what occurs between now and May 2nd at St. Andrew's, with Davies' side just seven points behind sixth-placed Watford.

Football League World exclusively revealed that as many as eight departures could be sanctioned between now and the aforementioned deadline, with Koumas featuring on the list of those who could move on amid a frustrating period for the 9-cap international, before Davies hinted at a potential U-turn in said transfer saga.

However, with Manneh expected to be donning the royal blue in a matter of hours, the 20-year-old is braced for a return to Merseyside.

Despite struggling to make an impact on loan at Stoke City last term in a maiden short-term stint away from Anfield, Koumas' signature remained highly courted in the summer window, with Birmingham eventually landing his signature ahead of both Hull City and Sheffield United.

After making his debut in an unexpected 1-0 defeat to Port Vale in the EFL Cup second round, the Chester native has only started in five of his 21 Championship appearances for Blues, with the last of those also seeing him net a first goal for the club with a well-taken finish in the 3-2 success over Coventry City on January 4th.

In the weeks leading up to the window, Koumas' future was somewhat plunged into doubt as he remained a regular on the substitutes bench, but has since started a handful of games due to Demarai Gray's absence with a calf strain.

As previously mentioned, FLW exclusively revealed that the winger was set for a return to Anfield at some stage in the transfer window, before Davies hinted at a potential U-turn over the situation ahead of his seventh start in total for Blues, which came in Saturday's 3-2 victory over Cambridge United in the FA Cup.

However, Give Me Sport now report that Manneh's imminent arrival in B9 will pave the way for his departure, with the ambitious club landing the four-time Gambian's signature after previous links to other Championship sides.

Indeed, after previously being linked with the likes of Wolverhampton Wanderers, AFC Bournemouth, Brighton and Burnley last summer, Coventry and Stoke City were said to have been in a transfer battle to land the winger's signature.

However, the man who scored seven times and posted a further three assists during Mjallby's title-winning season is now St-Andrew's bound.

Lewis Koumas' loan spell at Birmingham City hasn't fully worked out

Despite showing flashes of his quality in recent weeks, Koumas' second Championship loan stint hasn't fully worked out, with the Welsh international struggling for gametime due to the form of Gray and Patrick Roberts on either wing.

Manneh, of course, is unproven in the English game. However, previous links to the Premier League and his record in Sweden at such a young age will excite Bluenoses, who will see plenty of pace and power added to their forward line.

As such, it remains to be seen what the future will hold for Koumas if he is no longer deemed part of Davies' plans, with the attacker still very much in the infancy of his senior career.