Opinion: Why Birmingham City should launch a potentially ambitious swoop for former player

Birmingham City target Jack Butland faces two months on the sidelines after breaking a finger, according to a Patreon report from journalist Alan Nixon.

The 29-year-old looked as though he could have been a possible addition for John Eustace’s side with Sam Johnstone arriving at Selhurst Park to compete with Vicente Guaita for the number one jersey in the English capital.

However, Butland reportedly rejected the opportunity to move to St Andrew’s and there seems to be no chance of him ending back up in the Midlands now with this injury blow, one that looks set to rule him out of action for the remainder of the summer transfer window.

This is a real blow for the West Midlands outfit who desperately need a new shot-stopper as quickly as possible with Neil Etheridge set to get a pay rise if he makes a certain number of further appearances for the club.

That potential rise could affect Birmingham’s transfer business – and with the need to bring in another keeper as quickly as possible with Connal Trueman’s departure reinforcing the need to address this department – a free agent could be ideal to compete with John Ruddy and all but rule out the possible of Etheridge making further appearances.

Moving for a free agent would enable Blues to bypass negotiations with a club and that would speed up the process of recruiting a new stopper, though the pool of players they could target has shrunk since the start of the window.

Still, there are some talented players they could look at bringing in, including Orjan Nyland and Alex Smithies, though it remains to be seen whether the latter holds out for a club that are likely to be competing higher up the table.

Ben Foster, however, may be a better target to pursue considering he lives