£15k-a-week Birmingham City star must already be planning St Andrew's escape route in 2026 | OneFootball

A temporary deal north of the border collapsed at the eleventh hour on deadline day

Birmingham City striker Lyndon Dykes will surely be disappointed his move to Hibernian fell through on deadline day, with the Scotland international already firmly down the pecking order at St Andrew's.

Dykes, who earns £15k-per-week according to Capology estimates, looked set for a return to Scotland when Pete O'Rourke revealed that Hibs were in talks to sign the Blues striker on loan.

However, the deal collapsed at the eleventh hour, leaving the 29-year-old facing another period of uncertainty at St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park - especially after multiple clubs were also reportedly showing interest in him, as per Pete O'Rourke's tweet.

Even when Birmingham deployed two strikers last season, Dykes found himself competing with Alfie May - who, despite his eventual £1.2m departure to Huddersfield Town - was the preferred choice throughout.

Lyndon Dykes' failed Hibernian move tells its own story

The Edinburgh club's interest in securing Dykes' services was no secret, with reports suggesting the striker was keen on the move to secure regular first-team football ahead of Scotland's World Cup qualifiers.

Hibernian, who were knocked out of Europe after losing 5-4 on aggregate to Legia Warsaw in their Conference League play-off, could have offered the former Livingston striker the playing time he desperately needs to remain in Steve Clarke's plans.

However, Birmingham's demands proved too steep for the Scottish Premiership side.

Despite Dykes being on what would be considered a decent Championship salary, Hibs reportedly couldn't meet the wage requirements and had to pull out of the deal.

This speaks volumes about just how surplus to requirements the striker has become under Chris Davies. With Blues evidently unwilling to subsidise his wages a good amount to help facilitate a move, he could still have a part to play under Davies.

Dykes has managed just 23 minutes of game time in the second-tier across four appearances this season, albeit he scored the winning goal away at Blackburn Rovers in the 98th minute.

January window now the logical escape route for Lyndon Dykes

With his contract running until June 2027, Dykes faces a challenging period at St Andrews @ Knighthead Park - so the January transfer window is the most realistic opportunity for the striker to secure a move away from the West Midlands.

You could perhaps see that Scottish clubs, in particular, are likely to maintain their interest in the Australian-born striker following the failed Hibernian move.

Prior to signing for Queens Park Rangers in 2020, Dykes was a fairly well-known name in Scottish football, having scored 36 goals between spells with Queen of the South and Livi.

His international pedigree - having scored nine goals in 42 appearances for Scotland - does make him an attractive proposition for clubs north of the border, but his wage demands are unlikely to be more manageable for anyone else there than they proved for Hibs.

For a player of his experience, accepting a bit-part role for the remainder of the season would be detrimental to both his hopes of remaining in Scotland's World Cup plans.

Along with Jay Stansfield - who the manager describes as having "everything I love" in a striker - the arrivals of Kyogo Furhuhashi from Stade Rennais and Marvin Ducksch from Werder Bremen leaves little room for the former QPR man.

Davies usually opts for a possession-heavy 4-2-3-1 formation which appears better suited to the profiles of all three forwards that have just been mentioned - who are arguably better technically than Dykes as well.

Given Ducksch is similar to Dykes, in the way they are both physically imposing strikers, the German scored 32 goals in his past three Bundesliga campaigns with Bremen, which is better than what the Scotsman has managed in weaker leagues.

January obviously offers the opportunity to rectify this situation. Maybe Blues would benefit from continuing to pay his wages in full if he was sent out on a temporary move elsewhere, but at the end of the day that's a business decision.