Birmingham City transfer revelation emerges involving 32-year-old

Championship outfit Birmingham City are looking for a replacement for Neil Etheridge this summer because the shot-stopper will trigger a clause that would increase his wage if he makes a few more appearances, according to Alan Nixon.

The 32-year-old spent the early stages of last season out of action after being hospitalised with Covid-19, though Matija Sarkic filled the void left by the Thailand international extremely well.

Sarkic even kept Etheridge on the bench up until his injury in the winter, with the Wolverhampton Wanderers’ stopper being sidelined for the remainder of the 2021/22 campaign after dislocating his shoulder.

Lee Bowyer’s side have looked at a number of new goalkeepers already this summer, with the West Midlands outfit unsurprisingly interested in reuniting with Sarkic.

However, he looks set to remain at Molineux as a first-team option for Bruno Lage and they may be unsuccessful in their pursuit of Jack Butland too, with the Crystal Palace goalkeeper reportedly not wanting a return to St Andrew’s.

Despite this, it seems though they will continue pursuing a new option in this position to either keep Etheridge on the bench or enable them to offload him. Either of these options could help to ensure Bowyer has a slightly healthier transfer budget at his disposal this summer.

The Verdict:

This is an interesting situation because Etheridge’s future could potentially change overnight if new owners come in at St Andrew’s, with a new investor potentially prepared to keep him at the club.

At this level, he’s a great option to have but as Sarkic showed, he isn’t irreplaceable and with his pay rise coming down the tracks, they may benefit from offloading him.

They may utilise the loan market heavily again in the