Two Birmingham City transfer decisions imminent amid contract ‘offers’

Blues have asked veteran first-teamers John Ruddy and Lukas Jutkiewicz to sign on for another year but decisions are still yet to be made by either player.

The relegation from the Championship to League One has left the futures of several members of the squad in serious doubt and Ruddy and Jutkiewicz are no exception. Both love the club but all factors need to be weighed up, including their likely game time in the English third tier.

Birmingham announced their retained and released list just over three weeks ago, confirming Neil Etheridge, Gary Gardner, Scott Hogan, Marc Roberts and Ivan Sunjic would be leaving the club on June 30. Ruddy and Jutkiewicz, meanwhile, were said to have been offered new deals.

The summer holidays are still ongoing but resolutions are expected soon following the arrival of Chris Davies. No decisions were going to be made by either Ruddy or Jutkiewicz before a new manager arrived but the club now has a more stable outlook ahead of the summer transfer window.

Ruddy and Jutkiewicz decisions are complex

Blues were expected to let Ruddy depart if they remained in the Championship but the drop to the third tier added a layer of complexity. The 37-year-old offers vast experience and he’s a decent shot-stopper, but his distribution leaves plenty to be desired.

The former Wolverhampton Wanderers, Norwich City, Everton and Motherwell man made 44 league appearances for Blues last season, conceding 62 goals and keeping 11 clean sheets. There were several occasions in which Ruddy made big saves to stop Blues from conceding even more.

Jutkiewicz, meanwhile, is a club legend at St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park. The 35-year-old striker, who joined Birmingham from Burnley in January 2017, has scored 66 goals and made 27 assists in 330 appearances for the club. He played just 548 league minutes last campaign but remained a solid target man option off the bench.

There’s no doubting the attacker’s love for the football club but he’s unlikely to stay if he doesn’t get the assurances of a return to the game time of old. Last term was the first Jutkiewicz played less than 1,600 league minutes – and the total didn’t even make up a third of that. A big decision looms.