After a move to Stoke City collapsed, Matija Sarkic is now on the radar of his former loan club Blues and the Lions
Matija Sarkic’s proposed permanent move to Stoke City may have fallen through, but the Montenegro international seemingly has other options at his disposal this summer.
The 26-year-old is being allowed to depart Wolverhampton Wanderers this summer with his chances of game-time extremely limited, and he was poised to return to the Bet365 Stadium after spending time on loan with the Potters last season.
Sarkic played just eight times for City because of injuries, but Alex Neil was suitably impressed and tried to land him for a fee of £1.25 million.
However, it was then reported that a deal had fallen through between the two clubs, owing to Sarkic failing to agree personal terms with the Staffordshire outfit despite passing a medical.
It has left Sarkic’s future in limbo, but he now has fresh options on the table ahead of the 2023-24 season.
Millwall and Birmingham keen on Sarkic
According to a report from Alan Nixon on Patreon, Sarkic is now wanted by Millwall and Birmingham City – the latter who the goalkeeper has already played for on loan in his career with 23 matches under his belt for the Blues.
Nixon claims that the Lions and City both want to sign Sarkic on a loan deal in which they’d have the option to make it permanent at the end of the season.
Sarkic has two years remaining on his contract with Wolves but it has been made clear that he can depart this summer, but neither of the interested parties want to outright purchase the stopper this summer.
Why do Birmingham and Millwall want to sign Matija Sarkic?
Birmingham are seemingly after a younger goalkeeper to usurp John Ruddy in-between the sticks, with the veteran being John Eustace’s go-to last season with Neil Etheridge deputising.
City supporters already know what seven-cap Montenegro international Sarkic has to offer from his stint on loan in the 2021-22 season, where he played regularly in the first half of the campaign before dislocating his shoulder – prematurely ending his time at the club.
Despite being there for just half a season, Sarkic was voted as Birmingham’s Player of the Year after keeping 10 clean sheets in 23 matches, before then going on to join Stoke a year later.
Millwall meanwhile are also seemingly in the market for a goalkeeper having lost out on Mark Travers from AFC Bournemouth.
The Republic of Ireland international was targeted by the Lions a number of weeks ago to arrive at The Den, but they seemingly lost out to Stoke City, who have since confirmed his arrival on a season-long loan deal after a move for Sarkic fell through.
Veteran Polish stopper Bartosz Bialkowski had been Gary Rowett’s first-choice for a number of years, but he lost his place to the younger George Long in the 2022-23 season.
Despite Long’s decent performances on the whole for the Lions, Rowett is looking for fresh reinforcements in that area and clearly sees the likes of Travers and now Sarkic as a potential upgrade on his current starting goalkeeper.
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