Prospective new Birmingham City owner Laurence Bassini has identified his appointment for the club’s next manager.

Lee Bowyer currently holds the post as the first team squad’s head coach, but Bassini is hoping to appoint a successor upon taking over at St Andrew’s.

According to the Mirror, Bassini believes that John Eustace would be an ideal replacement for Bowyer and is now considering bringing him to the club.

It was announced earlier this month that Bassini had agreed to purchase the club’s largest individual shareholder’s stake in Birmingham, which would give him 21.64 per cent control of the Blues.

Bassini is planning to take over the entire club over the next two years for £36.5 million, with payments coming in two installments at £26.5 million and later £10 million.

The deal also includes a bonus to invest a further £10 million should Birmingham earn Premier League promotion by 2026.

It was originally reported that Mark Warburton was the number one target to replace Bowyer.

 

 

However, the former QPR boss has since taken a role as part of David Moyes’ backroom staff at West Ham.

That has seen Eustace emerge as a priority target instead, having worked with Warburton at Loftus Road.

Eustace is currently Stephen Kenny’s assistant for the Ireland national team.

The Verdict

Eustace is a highly rated coach and worked well with Warburton during their time together with the London club.

It remains to be seen whether he intends to become a manager in his own right, but Birmingham would certainly be an exciting project for him.

The appointment of Warburton to West Ham came as a surprise, but it is interesting that Bassini still intends to keep a roughly similar plan by bringing in his assistant coach from QPR.

It would also be a big blow to Kenny to lose yet another member of his coaching staff, with Eustace leaving the Ireland setup a possibility if he does take the role at Birmingham.