Birmingham City face Leeds United, Brentford transfer threat for £6.9m ace | OneFootball

Jhon Solis has impressed on loan at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park from Girona

Birmingham City's summer recruitment is likely to generate plenty of intrigue once more as the club looks to flex its muscles in the race for Premier League football.

Blues' short and long-term ambitions have become one of the EFL's main talking points in recent times, although they haven't quite been able to prove why there was so much hype surrounding the club as it returned to the Championship at the beginning of the season.

Chris Davies is now approaching two years in charge at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park, and there is still plenty of talk over whether the 41-year-old will still be in the hotseat at the start of 2026/27, in which two extra play-off places will be up for grabs as part of a new format.

Football League World have exclusively revealed that one man set to appear on Tom Wagner's potential shortlist of managers and head coaches, should Davies be relieved of his duties, is former Tottenham Hotspur and Brentford boss, Thomas Frank.

As such, a managerial change could also significantly alter any forthcoming transfer plans in this part of the Second City, even though that hasn't stopped Davies from recently outlining his understanding of where the club stands when it comes to extending the current loan deals of multiple players.

Indeed, Birmingham have endured mixed returns on the plethora of signings completed in both the summer and winter windows, which has been summed up by the club's mid-table position in the Championship.

That said, Girona FC loanee, Jhon Solis, has emerged as a bright spark since his January arrival, although there now appears to be no guarantee that the 21-year-old will return to the second tier side in the upcoming transfer window.

Leeds United and Brentford express interest in Birmingham City loan ace Jhon Solis

It has been well-documented that within Solis' move from the La Liga outfit to Birmingham, an initial loan fee had been paid and that the midfielder could be signed permanently by the Championship side through a £6.9m option-to-buy, although said option would become mandatory if an appearance-related clause was to be triggered.

It has since been claimed that the appearance clause, which related to Solis playing in 11 matches, was also minutes-related, and he has since played over 45 minutes in 13 outings for Blues.

The latter detail has been reported by Spanish journalist, Ivan Quiros - via X - alongside interest from two Premier League sides in the form of Leeds United and Brentford.

As previously mentioned, the all-action midfielder has impressed massively at St. Andrew's, and was rewarded for those efforts with his first goal in royal blue last time out in the 2-1 success over Bristol City.

When asked recently if a permanent deal was something which Birmingham were hopeful of striking, Davies also said: “There is a possibility of that within the structure of the loan and we’ve had discussions internally about what sort of squad we think can push us on next year, and we’ve been really happy with what he’s done.

“Everyone needs to discuss that when the season finishes and see what can be done.”

Premier League interest could hinder Birmingham City's chances of re-signing Jhon Solis

Ironically, this isn't the first time Solis has reportedly appeared on Brentford's transfer radar, having been of interest to the Bees, Brighton and Hove Albion and West Ham United during his time with Atlético National in his native Colombia.

Meanwhile, one of his maiden, and best performances for Blues came in the thrilling FA Cup fourth round exit at the hands of Leeds on February 15th, and it would be no surprise if Daniel Farke was left impressed by Solis' showing.

At just 21, there is plenty of potential for Solis to fulfil, having also earned a handful of appearances in the UEFA Champions League with Girona.

Yet, whilst Birmingham would hope the loan ace opts to stay at St. Andrew's and grow alongside the club, the chance to feature in the Premier League, and potentially Europe given Brentford's league position at present, may be too good to turn down.