Lee Bowyer makes Kristian Pedersen transfer admission after hooking Birmingham City star

Birmingham City have all but admitted defeat in their bid to tie Kristian Pedersen down to a new contract.

Pedersen’s contract expires at the end of this season and talks over a new deal for the Dane have been unsuccessful so far.

The club could even sell Pedersen before deadline day to prevent him walking away on a free transfer in June.

Lee Bowyer revealed earlier this season that Newcastle United enquired about Pedersen during the summer window, but the Magpies now have far grander targets after their takeover by the Saudi-backed Public Investment Fund.

Blues still want to sign a new defender in addition to Pedersen, making an exit unlikely, but Bowyer admits the club will seriously consider any offers that are tabled.

“Kristian is a good player so there’s going to be interest,” Bowyer explained. “Will he go? I don’t know. If the deal is right for the football club then it’s something we would have to consider because it looks like we’re going to lose him in the summer anyway.

“But if it isn’t right for the football club and it weakens us too much, then we won’t be letting him go.”

Pedersen has started 22 of Blues' 28 Championship games this season, and the 27-year-old has made 145 appearances for the club since joining from Union Berlin in 2018.

He started the draw with Peterborough United on Tuesday but Bowyer hooked him at half-time after a lacklustre showing at left-back.

“I won’t go into too much depth of Kristian’s situation,” Bowyer added. “I think we all know what it is now, there’s no point going over the same stuff time and time again.

“I took him off on Tuesday because he wasn’t playing well enough, plain and simple.

“He was our spare player for the way Peterborough set up. So I put a more