Birmingham City have had a busy transfer window this summer since new boss Harry Redknapp took over. Redknapp is trying to rebuild Birmingham and has changed their system to three at the back.
Harry has already brought in several players to fit this system. Such as, centre back Marc Roberts from Barnsley, Craig Gardner from West Brom and Carl Jenkinson on loan from Arsenal.
However, Birmingham’s new boss has not finished yet and is looking to add another central midfielder to his squad. That man is Sheffield Wednesday’s, Barry Bannan. According to reports, Birmingham have had a bid rejected from Wednesday. But Birmingham are keen to sign the player and it is easy to see why.
Barry Bannan moved to Sheffield Wednesday in August 2015 on a free transfer from Crystal Palace. Since his arrival, he has been a key player for Wednesday. In his first season, he played 35 Championship games. He managed two goals and two assists and helped Sheffield Wednesday reach the playoff final where they lost 1-0 to Hull City.
This past season Bannan was even more important to Wednesday. The Scottish midfielder played 43 of Wednesday’s 46 league games. In those games, he scored one goal and earned seven assists. Once again he also helped Wednesday to reach the playoff finals. But once again they lost out to the eventual winner Huddersfield Town.
Despite losing out in both playoffs, the fact that Wednesday got to both of them with Bannan a main stay in the team in both seasons, shows that he is a top quality player and knows what it takes to get into the top six of the Championship. A goal which Redknapp would very much love to achieve this season.
Another positive Barry Bannan would bring to Birmingham City is his versatility. Bannan is primarily a centre midfielder. He has played there 47 times for Sheffield Wednesday scoring one and assisting six. However, he can also play left midfield, a position he played 30 times for Wednesday scoring two and assisting three. Furthermore, Bannan has played right midfield 10 times, defensive midfield four times and centre attacking midfield three times.
This shows Bannan would be an excellent signing as he brings so much versatility and experience to Birmingham. A trait that is very useful in the Championship where injuries crop up a lot in a 46 game season. Birmingham will no doubt suffer injuries this season and if they sign Bannan he would be able to cover several positions for them.
Bannan also has a host of Premier League experience. He has played a total of 85 games in the top tier of English football. Those games coming from time spent at Aston Villa and Crystal Palace. This further demonstrates Bannan would be a solid signing as anyone who has played 85 Premier League games clearly has some talent in him.
Overall, Bannan would be a great signing. He is a top quality Championship midfielder who has experience fighting for promotion, Bannan can also play all across the midfield which is very useful and also has a lot of Premier League experience.
