One Birmingham City exit looks certain as doubts emerge over two others | OneFootball

Taylor Gardner-Hickman and Marc Leonard both moved out on loan from Birmingham City last season

Birmingham City had a promising first season in the Championship even if the club didn’t reach its ambitions of competing for promotion.

The Blues earned their place back in the second tier in 2025 by winning the League One title with an impressive haul of 111 points.

Chris Davies was hoping to maintain a strong competitive level and lead the team to a play-off push in their first year in the division.

However, the Midlands outfit were only good enough for 10th, finishing nine points adrift of sixth place Hull City, who went on to win the play-offs.

It is set to be another busy summer ahead at St. Andrew’s, with owners Knighthead Capital looking to lead Birmingham back to the Premier League for the first time since 2011.

With a lot of transfer activity expected, there are likely to be departures as well as incomings when the market opens on 15 June.

How Birmingham City feel about loan trio exits

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It has been reported by Birmingham Live that Taylor Gardner-Hickman’s future is undecided after returning from his loan spell with Blackburn Rovers.

A permanent option was included in the temporary deal for the 24-year-old, who made the switch at the end of the summer window.

It was expected that he would sign for the Lancashire outfit prior to Valerien Ismael’s departure as head coach in February, but his exit changed things for the player.

No decision has yet been made on his future, and it’s believed he will now report for pre-season training at the end of June.

Meanwhile, Birmingham were hoping to seal a significant sale for Marc Leonard after his impressive loan spell at Hearts.

The midfielder was a key part of the side as they fought for the Premiership title this season, but an Achilles injury has ended their hopes of a permanent move in the summer.

The 24-year-old made 13 appearances in the Scottish top flight after his January switch, contributing one goal and three assists as Hearts narrowly missed out on top spot to Celtic.

A number of clubs expressed an interest in a possible move, but he is set to be absent until the end of 2026, at the very least, ending any chance of a sale.

Finally, Scott Wright was also loaned out to Scotland in January, signing for Dundee, and Birmingham have no plans to reintegrate him into Davies’ side for next season.

The 28-year-old is entering the final year of his contract after returning from Scotland, and the Blues will be seeking a sale.

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Birmingham will need sales to make room in the squad

Birmingham now have quite a big squad with these players coming back, and they will need to make some sales in order to make room for further signings.

It’s unfortunate what happened to Leonard, as he was excelling in Scotland and could’ve commanded a significant fee.

He wasn’t part of Davies’ plans, so it would’ve been a great bit of business to potentially get a seven-figure sum for his departure.

Gardner-Hickman could work his way back into the team, but it’s no surprise that Wright is set for the chopping block given how little he was playing in the Championship prior to his loan.