It has been a peculiar moment for Birmingham City with the departure of John Eustace and the arrival of Wayne Rooney over the international break.
Even though the Blues had a respectable start to the season, the team’s new owners did not believe Eustace was deserving of continuing his position, preferring to hire Rooney instead. Rooney will have to make do with the roster he was given while the season is still in progress, but when the transfer market opens, he will undoubtedly want to add his own players to the team and start to have an impact on the playing group at St. Andrews.
Rangers transfer swoop has been connected to Birmingham City.
The Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland is one player the Blues manager is reportedly interested in. That is what Alan Nixon reported on Patreon over the weekend. According to Nixon, the storied England striker is searching for a new number one goalkeeper and wants Butland to leave Ibrox and join him at St Andrews.
However, it is said that Rooney might have to wait until the next summer for the deal to go through because a January transfer requires a tiny cost and Rooney is apparently required to limit the club’s spending until the following summer.
Would Birmingham City be wise to bring in Jack Butland?
Below, some of our FLW writers have explored whether or not Butland would be a decent acquisition at St Andrews in light of the aforementioned news.
Simmey Hannah-Donaldson
If Birmingham City were to make this acquisition, Jack Butland would be a good addition since, at this level, he is a great option to have as your number one goalkeeper. Wayne Rooney will undoubtedly want to make his mark on the team at St Andrews, and changing the goalie would be a risky first step in that direction. Having said that, John Ruddy, the current Blues starting quarterback, is still under contract with the team till next summer, so Wayne Rooney shouldn’t make this a priority in January. If the Blues can land Butland, there doesn’t appear to be any immediate need for them to go out and pay a fee in January.
Butland makes sense as Ruddy’s replacement should he decide to leave, but having the two compete for the top post until the conclusion of this season seems counterproductive if, as Nixon argues, the Blues must hold off on making any significant purchases until next summer.
Nadine Holmes
Given that John Ruddy is growing older, I can see the long-term advantages of adding Jack Butland, but Wayne Rooney or Birmingham City shouldn’t make this a top priority. So far, the 36-year-old has proven to be an excellent acquisition for the Blues. Given that they were competing in the bottom half of the table last season, he hasn’t missed many games since the start of the campaign and has maintained 17 clean sheets in 54 outings, which is no small feat.
In addition to his on-field accomplishments, Ruddy adds leadership, and that may be especially helpful if Birmingham is successful in their rumored chase of Derby County’s Eiran Cashin.
Therefore, the Championship club does not need to make recruiting a successor or even a replacement for him a top priority.
According to the article, Butland is eager to rejoin his previous team at St Andrew’s, and he would be a solid choice in goal for the second tier. With a contract that goes through the summer of 2027 at an age of 30, the English shot-stopper offers something Ruddy doesn’t in terms of longevity, but luring him away from them in the January window would not be cheap. He only moved north of the border in the summer.
In my opinion, it’s a decision that can wait until the summer of 2019 because Ruddy is a reliable choice until 2023–2024.
