Latest Birmingham City news from BirminghamLive includes a round-up on Dion Sanderson’s potential return to St Andrew’s
Dion Sanderson is one of the loanees John Eustace would like to bring back to Birmingham City on a permanent basis this summer.
The defender made a lasting impression in his second loan spell at St Andrew’s with two goals in 31 Championship outings. Only a back injury forced Sanderson out of the running for Blues’ Player of the Year awards.
Blues are keen to strike a deal with Wolverhampton Wanderers to sign Sanderson this summer, but it won’t be easy for a number of reasons. The first being Blues’ problems with Financial Fair Play, which will restrict the club’s summer spending regardless of the impending takeover by Knighthead Capital Management and Tom Wagner.
Competition for Sanderson will be fierce. BirminghamLive was recently informed that Stoke City showed interest in Sanderson during negotiations with Wolves over Matija Sarkic and Ki-Jana Hoever in January. There was no recall clause in Sanderson’s loan deal, meaning Wolves couldn’t pull the plug.
READ: Birmingham City might have already found their Tahith Chong replacement
READ: Ethan Laird opens up on Birmingham City transfer, ‘bizarre’ loan & why he had to quit Man Utd
The Potters are believed to have retained their interest, while Sunderland have also been linked with Sanderson. Sanderson spent the 2020/21 season on loan at the Stadium of Light whilst the Black Cats were in League One.
Stoke have more money to spend this summer after navigating their own FFP issues and raking in £15m for Aussie defender Harry Souttar in January. Here is what we know so
Wolves’ asking price
Wolves are willing to sell Sanderson this summer, as revealed by BirminghamLive in March, and won’t demand an excessive fee for the 23-year-old defender. It is understood that Wolves are asking for £2.25m plus bonuses for Sanderson, who has been on their books for 16 years and still has two seasons to run on his contract.
Blues don’t have much room for manoeuvre with regards to Financial Fair Play. Any deals have to be carefully structured to ensure Blues stay within the EFL’s guidelines. Sources have told BirminghamLive that Blues have had an offer in excess of £1.5m turned down by Wolves.
Eustace is ‘hopeful’
Eustace has made no secret of his desire to re-sign Sanderson. The pair enjoy a strong relationship and Eustace made Sanderson Blues’ captain for an FA Cup tie against Blackburn Rovers in January.
Speaking at Blues’ training ground at the beginning of pre-season, Eustace said: “I’m certainly hopeful. I know Dion has got a lot of admirers out there,” he said. “We are in the pecking order to try and sign him, but I do know there’s other clubs that will want to sign him as well.
“Dion knows what I think of him. I’ve said on a number of occasions in interviews how much I like him as a player and how much I respect him, if we can get him that would be fantastic.”
