Birmingham City eyeing transfer move for £10m Brighton star | OneFootball

Brighton are believed to be open to another loan spell for Tommy Watson next season

Birmingham City ended their first year back in the Championship on a positive note.

Chris Davies’ position as head coach has been called into question at times over the last year, but a five-match unbeaten run to end the campaign led to the Blues finishing 10th in the table.

The Midlands outfit earned promotion 12 months ago with an impressive tally of 111 points on their way to the League One title.

Their sights were set on immediately competing for promotion to the Premier League, having not competed in the division since 2011.

But the club were unable to sustain a proper top six challenge despite plenty of investment into the first team squad.

Birmingham will now turn their attention to the summer transfer window, as they look to close the gap to the play-off places after coming nine points adrift of Hull City in sixth.

Birmingham City eye Brighton loan deal

It has been reported by Football Insider that Birmingham are among the clubs interested in a deal for Tommy Watson this summer.

It’s believed that Brighton are ready to offload the winger on loan again after he spent the second half of this campaign with Millwall.

The 20-year-old made the switch to the Seagulls last summer from Sunderland after he helped the Wearside outfit gain promotion to the Premier League.

He arrived in a reported £10 million deal, but made just six substitute appearances in the top flight before joining Millwall temporarily.

Watson played 12 times in the Championship for Alex Neil’s side, including making two starts, as the team reached the play-off semi-finals, before losing to Hull.

But Birmingham are now one of the clubs with their sights on bringing the forward to St. Andrew’s for next season.

They face competition from a number of second division sides, as well as potentially Portuguese giants Porto.

It remains to be seen what the 20-year-old’s preference will be, and if a return to Millwall could be on the cards after his loan spell concluded with the defeat to the Tigers.

While Brighton still see him as a part of Fabian Hurzeler’s long-term plans, the Premier League side want to loan him out this summer in order for him to get regular first team football.

Birmingham will be looking to bolster their attacking options, as they look to fight for a top eight finish in the Championship.

Tommy Watson loan move makes most sense for his career

Watson showed during his spell at Millwall that another year in the Championship would be the best step for his career.

While there’s no doubt that he possesses potential to be a Premier League calibre player, he still needs to gain more experience in the second tier before taking that step up.

Birmingham could be a solid landing spot next season, although he will be wary of receiving consistent game time given the number of options at Davies’ disposal.

Wherever Watson ends up, he needs to prioritise a move to a club where he will be a regular member of the starting lineup, which may prove an issue at St. Andrew’s.