The ten pressing contract decisions Birmingham City will have to address

Birmingham City face a busy transfer window with plenty of strengthening - and trimming - required in most positions in the team. Defence will need urgent attention, while the age of Blues’ attackers will need looking at and there is a glut of options in central midfield.

The club will lose a couple of players as their contracts roll down, with Kristian Pedersen and Jeremie Bela said to have declined reduced offers to stay at St Andrew’s. There is also an overall desire to off-load some of the larger, pre-pandemic contracts which take up too large a portion of the budget.

It won’t all be done this summer - and while the club have to build for next season, they will also have to take care of housekeeping and consider whether to offer fresh terms to players who will be out of contract in June 2023. There are some very familiar faces who will be entering their final year in just a few months time.

These are:

The French defender has had his injury troubles this season but is nearing 200 games having signed from Brentford in 2017. He’s a real favourite with Lee Bowyer and has recently shown not only his customary professionalism but versatility too. He’ll be 31 in November.

The striker has been on the sidelines for the last couple of months but overall has managed four goals in 18 games. We should see him before the end of the campaign. If his impact on the pitch has been limited, he is a key senior professional off it and with George Friend has been driving cultural standards. He’ll be 34 in the summer.

After a slow, injury affected start, Graham has been an important player for Blues this season. Once a reluctant wing back during his earlier days the winger has applied himself really well, not only to wing back but even to