Birmingham City notebook: Chris Davies checks in as Leeds United make Cody Drameh ploy

Chris Davies has checked in for his first day at Birmingham City after being named the club’s new manager last week.

The former Swansea City, Liverpool, Celtic, Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur coach has been appointed Blues boss on a four-year contract following the departure of Tony Mowbray. Davies is branching out as a number one after more than a decade assisting Brendan Rodgers and Ange Postecoglou.

Blues have posted a picture of Davies reporting for duty at the first team’s training base in Henley-in-Arden. Davies’ first interview with Blues TV cameras is anticipated this week. Interviews with Davies are few and far between but he did occasionally fill in for Rodgers at Celtic and Leicester.

The 39-year-old will be meeting with all the relevant departments, most notably the recruitment team, ahead of what will be a busy summer for the club. Blues need to replace 10 players who have already departed and iron out the futures of several others.

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EFL publish Blues retained list

The work that awaits Davies is highlighted by the full retained list which has been published by the EFL. There are 29 players on Blues’ list, but only 12 of them are over the age of 21.

We expect a number of youngsters to be given a chance by Davies – who is a coach known for developing young talent – but Blues will have to add some experience to their squad during the close season.

The futures of veteran duo John Ruddy and Lukas Jutkiewicz can now be sorted following the appointment of Davies. With pre-season only weeks away, Davies and Co have to sift through their workload quickly.

Contracted players for 2024/25

Keshi Anderson, Juninho Bacuna, Ben Beresford, Krystian Bielik, Rico Browne (contract offered), Lee Buchanan, Alfie Chang, Siriki Dembele, Junior Dixon, Romelle Donovan, Laiith Fairnie, Tommy Fogarty, George Hall, Harley Hamilton, Josh Home, Oluwafemi Jakobsen-Olofinjana, Jordan James, Sahid Kamara, Brandon Khela, Ethan Laird, Manny Longelo, Bradley Mayo (contract offered), Koji Miyoshi, Paik Seung-ho, Byron Pendleton, Alex Pritchard, Tyler Roberts, Dion Sanderson, Josh Williams.

Leeds’ Cody Drameh ploy

Had Blues’ season ended differently, there would have been a different conversation to be had over the future of Cody Drameh. Blues were interested in making Drameh’s loan move permanent midway through last season when he was a regular in their line-up and excelling under Mowbray.

But fate intervened and Drameh barely featured for the club in the closing weeks of the campaign. The 21-year-old is out of contract at Leeds United and, to the surprise of some, he has been offered a new deal.

The chances of Drameh signing it are slim with a number of Championship clubs likely to step forward and offer him regular football away from Elland Road. Leeds have covered their own backs by offering Drameh a deal to ensure they are compensated financially by his next club.