Birmingham City boss Lee Bowyer has admitted that he doesn't expect to receive money to spend on new permanent transfers in the January transfer window to strengthen his squad.

It comes as the Midlands club prepare to lose Australia international Riley McGree back to his parent club Charlotte FC ahead of their inaugural MLS season, whilst Tahith Chong has suffered a serious injury and isn't guaranteed to return to the club from Manchester United.

The Blues are said to be trying to re-negotiate a deal for Chong in which they'd pay less of a contribution to his wages following his thigh problem and that could free up some wages to make more additions.

 

 

 

 

Bowyer didn't spend a penny on transfer fees in the summer, with five loans coming in and all permanent additions - the likes of Troy Deeney and Ryan Woods - being on free transfers.

Money is quite clearly tight at St. Andrew's currently and it appears that the club may be operating at their budget as Bowyer has revealed that it could be a case of wheeling and dealing once again when the mid-season window opens.

“Finances come into play, whether you like it or not so it’s going to be tough," Bowyer said on potential transfers, via BirminghamLive.

"All we can do is try and get the targets we want and hopefully we can do that.

“From what I understand there is no money to spend, so we will be looking similar to the summer. We were working on a one out, one in basis so we will be doing the same again I guess.

“Riley is going out, that’s what we worked to in the summer and that’s how we managed to bring in some of the people we did.

"If that changes I will be happy but at the minute I have not got any inkling to say there is any money.”

The Verdict

It won't come as a surprise to Birmingham fans that there's not much money - if any - to spend this January.

The club are still probably counting the cost of some of the past transfer deals four years ago that led them to financial breaches and a points deduction from the EFL.

Despite not paying a penny in transfer fees over the summer, Birmingham will be paying decent wages for the likes of Troy Deeney, Chong, Ryan Woods and some of their other players like Scott Hogan.

There's no doubt that Bowyer and Craig Gardner will have to be smart in the transfer market if they want to strengthen and move up the league but with the topsy-turvy nature of the Championship this season that could be possible even without doing any deals.