Birmingham City head coach John Eustace has revealed that the club are not currently looking to move on Jonathan Leko during the transfer window.
Leko returned to St Andrew's earlier this year after spending the majority of the 2021/22 campaign on loan at Charlton Athletic.
During his time with the Addicks, the winger only managed to show glimpses of his ability in the third-tier.
In the 25 league games that he participated in, Leko scored two goals and provided three assists for Charlton as they sealed a 13th-place finish in the standings.
Since linking up with Birmingham following the expiry of his temporary deal at The Valley, the 23-year-old has been handed the opportunity to prove his worth in pre-season.
Leko has played in all four of the club's friendlies this summer and could potentially be in line to feature against Rayo Vallecano on Saturday.
Making reference to the winger, Eustace has admitted that Birmingham will not be looking to sanction a departure for Leko as it stands.
Asked by Birmingham Live about whether a move could be on the cards for Leko, Eustace said: "Not at the moment.
"At the moment he is in the squad, as you can see we have got 13-14 players ready to play and we have got four or five injuries to come back so at the moment Jon is very much in my line of thinking.
"Jonny has done terrifically.
"I think we have been here just over two weeks now and for two weeks now he has been fantastic, he has done ever so well in the games, he has been really positive and tonight [yesterday] at times he was excellent again so I have been really happy with Jonny."
The Verdict
Given that Eustace has clearly been impressed by Leko's performances in pre-season, it wouldn't be a shock if the winger is included in Birmingham's match-day squad for their Championship clash with Luton Town on July 30th.
The Blues will be determined to secure a positive result at Kenilworth Road against a Hatters side who reached the semi-finals of the play-offs earlier this year.
Despite the fact that he has made 41 appearances for Birmingham in all competitions since sealing a move to the club in 2020, Leko has yet to score a goal or provide an assist.
If he is selected to feature against Luton, Leko will need to seize this particular opportunity as a failure to do so could result in him falling down the pecking order later this year.