Yahoo News Path cleared for Birmingham City to sign Tony Mowbray favourite on free transfer
Queens Park Rangers have announced that Andre Dozzell will depart the club at the end of his contract this summer.
QPR have decided not to take up their option to extend Dozzell’s contract by a further year, leaving the midfielder free to find a new home. Birmingham City is a potential destination for Dozzell if Tony Mowbray returns as manager this summer.
Dozzell spent the second half of the season on loan at Blues after becoming Mowbray’s first signing as boss. Mowbray and his assistant Mark Venus chased Dozzell for a number of years before eventually luring him to St Andrew’s.
“My assistant manager wanted to sign him for five years at every club we’ve been at,” Mowbray told BirminghamLive in January after acquiring Dozzell. “What a wonderful talent. I’ve got an affinity with Ipswich Town (Dozzell's former club), I was there for nine years as a player and a coach, I played with his dad (Jason Dozzell).
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“When you watch Dozzell for QPR, when he’s on the pitch, he’s their supply line. He feeds them, he plays forward all the time. Every time he touches it he plays forward.
“Hopefully when we develop this team and become a possession-based football team, people like him are going to really enjoy their football, and our supporters will enjoy a top player.”
However, Dozzell fell out of favour under interim boss Gary Rowett at the tail-end of the season as Blues tried to fend off relegation. The 25-year-old played 10 games in total for Blues and scored the winning goal against Blackburn Rovers in February.
It remains to be seen whether Blues will bring Dozzell back on a permanent basis this summer. The deal will almost certainly hinge on whether Mowbray does indeed retake the managerial reins.
