Birmingham City are interested in bringing Scott Hogan back to the club after his impressive loan last season.

The Ireland international is contracted to Blues' bitter rivals Aston Villa but he is way down the pecking order for the Premier League side and Dean Smith is on the lookout for at least one new number nine.

Therefore, Hogan is sure to depart and The Sun reporter Alan Nixon has revealed that Blues are working on a potential deal, although an agreement will need to be reached over the wages of the former Brentford man.

"BIRMINGHAM. Hope VILLA will help them to do the Scott Hogan deal. Make an offer that works and also helps striker leave."

As mentioned, the 28-year-old spent time at St. Andrew's last season, hitting seven goals in 17 games, so he has shown he can deliver in this team.

And, boss Aitor Karanka will be desperate for reinforcements up top, with Lukas Jutkiewicz the only senior striker at the club and he is out injured, with Birmingham toothless as they lost to Cambridge in the League Cup yesterday.

The verdict

It's clear that Blues need at least one new forward in as soon as possible, so this is good news as Hogan would add a lot to the team.

He is settled in the area, knows the players and has proven himself at this level, so it's a deal that makes a lot of sense.

Of course, the issue will be financial but Blues will hope that they can reach an agreement with Villa and the aim will be to get it finalised ahead of the weekend game at Brentford.

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