Birmingham City boss Lee Bowyer has told Birmingham Live that he is slightly reluctant to dip into the loan market this summer as he weighs up what moves need to be made in the summer transfer window. 

The Blues manager has only been in the post for a little over two months and is already looking at various areas in which the current squad can be improved.

It has already been a time of change in the Midlands, with the Blues putting out their retained list earlier in the month, with the likes of Dan Crowley, Josh Dacres-Cogley and Jon Toral all departing for pastures new as the turnover of players begun in swift fashion.

Naturally many would think that Bowyer will look to utilise the loan market throughout the upcoming season, however the Birmingham boss seemingly has different views on it:

"Loans you have to be careful because some clubs put rules in there and try to punish you if a player doesn’t play. 

"I believe if you bring a player in and he isn’t doing enough or playing well enough to play, then you get punished – that’s wrong.

"You can’t just play a player because you don’t want to affect the club financially, some people would play a player because they want to save money but if you play that player you are probably going to lose the game.

"I understand why clubs do it, they want their player to go out on loan, get experience and play the game but again, it all comes down to picking the right people.

"If you pick the right people then you won’t have those problems to worry about."

Birmingham bought in four players on loan throughout the 2020/21 campaign, with Riley McGree, Jake Clarke-Salter, Rekeem Harper and Yan Valery all joining from Charlotte FC, Chelsea, West Brom and Southampton respectively.

The Verdict 

I think it's fair to say that Birmingham will probably utilise the loan market once again if the potential deals on offer suit them.

There is nothing worse for a manager than having to start a player simply because of the terms of an agreement with said parent club.

It defeats the whole point in giving a loan player the full experience of feeling what it is like to be fighting for your spot in starting eleven every week.

Clearly it is a problem that Bowyer knows all to well from his previous stint with Charlton and he will no doubt be looking to oust it entirely during his time with Birmingham moving forwards.