Birmingham City manager Lee Bowyer has admitted that he has been told that the club are not in contention to sign Riley McGree on a permanent deal in the upcoming transfer window.

The midfielder is set to return to Major League Soccer side Charlotte FC in January ahead of the club's inaugural season in this particular division.

Since rejoining Birmingham on a temporary basis earlier this year, McGree has managed to demonstrate some real signs of promise in the Championship.

The midfielder helped his side secure all three points in their showdown with Bristol City last night by opening the scoring for the Blues at St Andrew's.

McGree's deflected effort wrong-footed goalkeeper Dan Bentley in the 14th minute of the clash.

Scott Hogan then doubled his side's advantage following the break.

Gary Gardner added a third for Birmingham in the 76th minute as they coasted to victory.

Making reference to McGree following this particular clash, Bowyer has revealed that the Australian is still set to return to his parent-club next year.

Speaking to the Birmingham Mail about whether the Blues are in contention to sign McGree, Bowyer said: "No, I don't think so.

"Not that I am told.

"Apparently he is going back.

"That will be a blow, there's a lot of blows at the minute, we are running out of players.

 

 

"We are going to need some help in January.

"Riley's going back, Chong's out injured for a while, we are losing players left, right and centre at the minute."

The Verdict

When you consider just how impressive McGree has been for Birmingham in recent weeks, Bowyer would have been hoping to keep the midfielder at St Andrew's for the foreseeable future by securing his services on a permanent deal.

However, the Blues are seemingly set to wave goodbye to the 23-year-old when his loan deal expires.

After scoring against Swansea City last month, McGree backed up this particular display by netting in last night's fixture as he registered an impressive WhoScored match rating of 8.54 at St Andrew's.

With Tahith Chong set to be out of action until February due to a groin injury and McGree set to leave, Bowyer will need to bolster his options in the heart of midfield in the upcoming window.

By signing an adequate replacement for McGree, the Blues boss could potentially guide his side to a relative amount of success in the second-half of the 2021/22 campaign.