How to Sign Demarai Gray

Any bidding clubs for Demarai Gray would have to offer significant first team football in order to tempt the youngster away from Birmingham. Gary Rowett told bcfc.com that Gray has a level head and values what he has at the club that signed him as a youngster. The youngster is on course for 50 appearances this year.

The reality is that the first stumbling block for clubs is the fee. Having now signed a new 3 year deal, any potential new destination for Gray would require a significant outlay. Now I would struggle to guess how much that would be but what is for sure is Blues are likely to reject anything that comes their way until Gray asks to leave.

And there lies the second challenge to sign Gray. The player clearly has his long term goals set and understands that game time is how to realise just how good he can be in the future. A similar situation to what Redmond was looking for when he left the club, a transfer that was made possible due to Chris Hughton flexing his Birmingham connection.

The transfer window slams shut tomorrow and I expect at least one club to test Birmingham’s resolve and it may well come as a surprise as to who the club is. With time running out for clubs to strengthen their teams, managers and directors become increasingly willing to part with their cash.

Having seen what it would take to tempt Gray away from Blues it seems unlikely that any club will be able to get this deal done in the next day. But as Rowett rightly said, it can’t be guaranteed that Gray will be here on Wednesday.