If anyone thought that Birmingham City’s relegation to League One would lead to a quiet summer they’d be dead wrong. Despite dropping down a division, the Blues are already opening talks for a signing with proven quality in both the second and third tiers of English football.
Blues build League One ready squad
In the wake of their relegation to League One, Birmingham have wasted no time rebuilding their side ready for life in the third tier. The Blues’ recent retained list has seen a number of fan favourites shown the door at St Andrew’s in order to make way for new signings.
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Birmingham City Retained List 2023/24 |
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First team players released |
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Neil Etheridge |
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Gary Gardner |
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Scott Hogan |
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Marc Roberts |
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Ivan Sunjic |
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First team players returning to parent clubs |
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Emanuel Aiwu |
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Oliver Burke |
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Andre Dozzell |
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Cody Drameh |
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Jay Stansfield |
With a slew of players leaving the club this summer, it feels almost inevitable that the Blues’ higher ups will quickly get to work bringing in new talent. Birmingham made their first signing of the summer when Ryan Allsop made the switch from Championship side Hull City.
The 32-year-old goalkeeper kept ten clean sheets in the league last season as the Tigers narrowly missed out on the playoffs. In bringing in a high level Championship keeper, it is clear that the Blues are building not just for next season in League One but hopefully the following season back in the second tier.
With this in mind, it now appears that Birmingham have opened talks for another player that has bags of experience across the Football League.
Blues open talks for Plymouth defender
As first reported by Football Insider’s Wayne Veysey, Birmingham have opened talks to sign Plymouth Argyle defender Dan Scarr. Sources have told the outlet that the Argyle defender is in West Midlands club’s affordability range owing to the fact that he is out of contract in the summer of 2025.
Scarr may be a familiar name to some of the St Andrews’ faithful, with the centre back making one appearance for the Blues back in 2018/19. Since leaving Birmingham in 2019 Scarr has gone to make a name for himself in the Football League, in particular during his 109 appearances for the Pilgrims.
The 29-year-old made himself a fan favourite at Home Park during the 2022/23 season, appearing 35 times as Argyle lifted the League One title. Scarr then went on to feature 31 times the following campaign as his side staved off relegation from the Championship.
The defender also earned significant plaudits from the coaching staff at Argyle with former coach Steven Schumacher singing the praises of the Englishman in an interview back in 2023, telling the press: “Dan Scarr was great when he came on. He did what he always does, he gets himself in the way. He’s similar to Bolts, he heads everything.
“He defended really well, he was calm enough on the ball and didn’t make too many errors. I’m really pleased to have him back.”
If Birmingham are to get a deal for Scarr over the line, they will be picking up a quality League One centre back that is more than comfortable stepping up to the Championship.
