Birmingham City face real dilemma with £500k star - keep or sell? | OneFootball

Marc Leonard's career appears to be at a major crossroads heading into 2026/27

An important summer is awaiting Birmingham City, with the club not fully able to continue building on the momentum which was generated at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park in the 2024/25 season.

Having previously been involved in several relegation battles at Championship level within the past 10 years or so, there would have been a time when a comfortable top half finish in the second tier was deemed as success by Blues supporters.

However, given the ambition showcased by ownership group, Knighthead Capital Management, and how much they have continued to back Chris Davies in the transfer market, all hasn't exactly been well in B9 across recent months.

And, although Birmingham have ended the season with a strong vein of results and performance levels, it still remains to be seen whether Davies will be granted a third successive season in charge at St. Andrew's, as well as which players within his squad will be a part of the club's next stage of rebuilding.

There has been a real split in terms of how a plethora of new signings have performed this season in the eyes of Bluenoses, with it being well-documented that the likes of Kanya Fujimoto and Kyogo Furuhashi have flattered to deceive, whilst Carlos Vicente and August Priske have recently shown signs of encouragement heading into their respective first pre-seasons at the club.

It also remains to be seen if Blues will be able to lure Colombian powerhouse, Jhon Solis, towards a permanent deal in the summer, and that isn't the only midfield dilemma they will face, as Marc Leonard has certainly enjoyed a fruitful loan spell of his own with Scottish Premiership title hopefuls, Hearts.

Marc Leonard's season has come on leaps and bounds after Birmingham City, Hearts loan agreement

Leonard's situation with the West Midlands outfit has always been one of intrigue, with the Scottish midfielder's arrival in 2024 for £500,000 seen as a major coup for Blues and Davies.

Unfortunately for the Scot, he wasn't exactly afforded regular opportunities to build on two stellar loan stints at Northampton Town, largely due to the performance levels of Paik Seung-ho and Tomoki Iwata in Birmingham's record-breaking campaign at League One level.

Despite only making 15 Championship appearances in the first half of the season, Leonard was very rarely the subject of criticism from Blues supporters whenever he featured in the middle of the park due to his mix of technical ability and combativeness.

However, after intense speculation over an exit of some form, the 24-year-old has returned to form at Tynecastle Park as the Jambos fight it out against Celtic and Rangers for a first league triumph in 66 years.

It has been well-documented that Leonard's wages, which currently stand at an ESTIMATED figure of £6,500 per week, are likely to provide challenges for the Edinburgh club, but that doesn't take away from the fact that a string of strong performances saw the midfielder described as a "godsend" by Derek McInnes.

"People might see Marc Leonard as being in the same breath as Cammy (Devlin) because he has stepped into the team in his position," said the Hearts boss.

"We might not have gone down that route if Cammy hadn't got injured. I'm delighted with Marc, he's been first-class. He's been as good as we could have hoped, getting to the pace of the game, he's brought a lot to the dressing room, he's a good boy who is hungry to get success while he's here."

As such, it remains to be seen what the future holds for the 24-year-old heading into the summer transfer window.

Birmingham City have a critical decision to make on Marc Leonard's future

At the end of June, Leonard will be halfway through his four-year contract at St. Andrew's, and given the interest in him back in January, you would assume a handful of suitors, including Hearts, would remain lingering in the background.

There is currently plenty of uncertainty when assessing Birmingham's midfield options, as the aforementioned Solis can still be signed on a permanent basis from La Liga outfit Girona, whilst it is expected that Tommy Doyle will return to Wolves once his loan stint concludes.

That does leave the door slightly ajar for Leonard to return to the first-team fold, and he will likely have caught the eye through his performances back in Scotland.

However, at the very worst, Hearts are set to kickstart next season involved in the UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds depending on their league finish, which could also be more of an attraction to the Scottish youth international over a bit-part role in helping his permanent employers attempt to earn promotion back to the Premier League.