Birmingham City in talks to sign Sunderland star | OneFootball

Tom Wagner has revealed that Birmingham City are in talks with Sunderland to make Patrick Roberts' loan deal permanent this January.

Birmingham City owner Tom Wagner has revealed that the Midlands club are working to try and get on-loan Sunderland forward Patrick Roberts on a permanent deal this January.

It's been a disappointing first half of the season for the League One champions, who many expected would be competing right at the top of the Championship, and could potentially secure back-to-back promotions.

The Blues sit in mid-table at the halfway point of the season, with head coach Chris Davies under pressure, having not delivered the results that were expected of him so far this campaign.

However, with January just around the corner, Birmingham have the chance to add to their squad in the hope of turning their season around, and owner Wagner has revealed a deal that he's already 'working really hard' on.

That deal is making Sunderland loanee Roberts' temporary move to St Andrews @ Knighthead Park permanent, with the winger impressing in his stint in the second city thus far.

Tom Wagner reveals Birmingham City in talks to sign Sunderland's Patrick Roberts permanently

Birmingham made 14 signings in the summer transfer window, and whilst they won't be as busy this winter, Wagner still has targets in mind as they look to improve on a lacklustre first half of the campaign.

The Birmingham chairman recently sat down with The Telegraph for a lengthy discussion about his club, in which he revealed that the Blues were working hard behind the scenes to secure one of their loanees on a permanent deal.

That man is experienced winger Roberts, who joined on loan in the summer, following the Black Cats' promotion to the Premier League. Since then, he's become a key player for Davies' side with two goals and three assists in 19 Championship outings.

With Sunderland flying in the top flight, Birmingham are looking to pounce and secure his signature permanently, and Wagner revealed that conversations are already taking place behind the scenes to make this happen.

When quizzed on the future of the winger, the 56-year-old told The Telegraph: “We’re working really hard there.

"January is always tough because the number of options that are available to you is always lower.

“But we’ve got a few things that we’d like to accomplish, and areas where we think we can find additional talent to support our existing squad.

“We’ll run hard at all of those opportunities and hopefully we’ll find some ways to do even better.”

Birmingham City can take advantage of Sunderland's Premier League success when trying to land Roberts permanently

Birmingham weren't the only club in the top four tiers of English football who underwent a massive squad revamp in the summer, as Sunderland also spent big to ensure they survived their first season back in the Premier League.

Fortunately, this has worked for the Black Cats, who comfortably sit in the top-half of the table, with some of their new additions proving to make a huge improvement to the squad.

With that in mind, Roberts will now be surplus to requirements for his parent club, and they will likely want to get him off the wage bill in the near future. This is where Birmingham can take advantage of Sunderland's success.

With the 28-year-old down the pecking order at the Wearside club, and likely wanting to get him off the wage bill, the Blues can use this to potentially negotiate a cut-price deal to secure his services permanently.