Birmingham City 'considering' £4.2m swoop as Sunderland and Blackburn eye midfielder

Birmingham’s transfer window is beginning to gather pace as new manager Chris Davies has now had long enough to settle in and consider key decisions.

Blues have made the signing of a new centre-forward a priority following the departures of Scott Hogan and Jay Stansfield. It’s emerged - via Fussballeuropa and later Birmingham Live - that interest has been expressed in 6ft 3in Sparta Rotterdam attacker Tobias Lauritsen.

The 26-year-old has gathered the attention of a variety of clubs across Europe following a second successive season of scoring a dozen goals in the Eredivisie. Norwegian but yet to make an appearance for his national team, Lauritsen has contributed a total of 28 goals and 14 assists in 73 games for Sparta Rotterdam.

Turkish side Trabzonspor and Serie A outfit Hellas Verona have both been credited with an interest in Lauritsen, giving Blues tricky competition. Trabzonspor would offer Europa League football next campaign, while Hellas will be targeting a top-half finish in the Italian top flight.

The striker is expected to cost around €5 million (£4.2 million). If Blues were to spend that much, it would break the existing League One transfer record of the £4 million that Sunderland paid to sign Will Grigg from Wigan Athletic.

Sunderland and Blackburn eye Birmingham swoop

In other transfer news, Championship duo Sunderland and Blackburn Rovers are advancing their interest in Birmingham midfielder Paik Seung-ho. It’s claimed - via a report on journalist Alan Nixon’s Patreon page - that Blackburn have serious interest in signing Paik this summer as former Blues boss John Eustace aims to add midfield quality.

Sunderland, meanwhile, have been plotting a move for the South Korean for months according to Football Insider. The Black Cats, eager to close the gap to the play-off positions, were rejected by Paik in January as the midfielder opted for Birmingham. But the drop in League One could make the reversal tempting.