Birmingham City's enquiry for Karl Darlow has been knocked back by Newcastle United, according to reports from Football Insider.

The 29-year-old has found game time hard to come by at St. James' Park over the past couple of seasons, having been used as back-up to Martin Dubravka.

Darlow featured only six times for Newcastle this term and he hasn't featured in the Premier League since February 2018, therefore his future in the North East looks uncertain.

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Darlow only has one year left on his contract at St. James' Park, so it remains to be seen whether the Magpies look to cash in this summer, rather than potentially lose him for free next summer.

Birmingham have recently been linked with the signing of Darlow, as per The Sun, as Aitor Karanka looks to bring in a new goalkeeper following Lee Camp's St. Andrew's departure.

But according to Football Insider, an enquiry from Birmingham for Darlow has been knocked back by Newcastle.

It is claimed that Newcastle want proven back-up to Dubravka, and Birmingham's advances for the player have, hence, been rebuffed.

The Verdict

This is a blow for Birmingham.

Following Camp's release, as well as Connal Trueman's loan move to AFC Wimbledon, Birmingham need to bring in a new goalkeeper and Darlow would be a perfect fit.

He hasn't played an awful lot of games in the past two years, but he has experience of winning promotion from the Championship and would be a reliable figure in-between the sticks.

It seems that it will take a lot to lure him away from St. James' Park, though.