League One rival in transfer 'talks' with out of contract Birmingham City star as Plymouth Argyle star on radar

A League One rival is to hold transfer talks with out of contract Birmingham City goalkeeper John Ruddy, according to a report.

According to Football Insider, Charlton Athletic are in 'preliminary' discussions to sign Ruddy. The Addicks are looking to strengthen their goalkeeping options next season and have identified Ruddy as a potential option.

Ruddy is out of contract this summer and like Lukas Jutkiewicz has been offered a new deal. Blues are confident that Jutkiewicz will remain, but the future of Ruddy is unclear.

Birmingham this week signed boyhood supporter Ryan Allsop for an undisclosed fee from Hull City. The departure of Neil Etheridge meant that a goalkeeping option was needed and Allsop fits the bill, having made just under 400 appearances in his club career.

Ruddy has been a player at St Andrew's for the last two seasons, playing 89 times whilst keeping 25 clean sheets. If he were to depart St Andrew's then Birmingham could consider signing another goalkeeper, but they also have the option of promoting from within.

Brad Mayo could be that player after he was handed a new two-year deal. His current contract expires at the end of the month and he will be hoping that next season is where he can break in to the first-team picture. He has been named in five match day squads but is yet to make a first-team appearance, though he does train with the senior players.

In other news, Football Insider is also reporting that Blues have held talks to sign Plymouth Argyle defender Dan Scarr. Birmingham are believed to be in the market for a new centre-back and is Scarr is on their radar.

He is under contract at Home Park until the summer of 2025, and is in Birmingham's 'affordability' range but they will need to persuade former manager Wayne Rooney to part ways with him.

If Birmingham were successful in their pursuit of Scarr then it would act as a reunion. He was on the books at the club from 2017 to 2019 after joining from non-league Stourbridge.

Birmingham beat off the likes of West Brom, Middlesbrough, Port Vale and Portsmouth to sign Scarr, who is a boyhood supporter of the club. His time with Birmingham didn't go to plan though as he tore his hip flexor and was out for the rest of the season, before moving on loan to Wycombe Wanderers.

Scarr appeared once for the first team and that was in a Carabao Cup match before he was allowed to join Walsall in January 2019 for an undisclosed fee. The six foot two inches centre-back featured 96 times for the Saddlers, scoring seven goals as they finished 22nd in League One, before 12th and 19th-placed finishes in League Two.

Plymouth Argyle has been his home for the last three seasons and he has made 109 appearances in total for the Pilgrims. Scarr was part of the Plymouth team that won the League One title in 2023, and played 31 times last season as they stayed up at the expense of Birmingham.