Birmingham City: Alex Pritchard set for St Andrew's exit | OneFootball

The Blues look set to lose a January signing already

Birmingham City attacking midfielder Alex Pritchard is closing in on a transfer to Sivasspor.

That's according to Daily Telegraph journalist Mike McGrath, who says that the Blues have been in talks with the Turkish side about a deal for the 31-year-old.

Pritchard only joined Birmingham back in the January transfer window, when he signed from Sunderland for an undisclosed fee.

He then went on to nine appearances during the second half of the campaign, but was unable to prevent the club suffering relegation to League One from the Championship.

As a result, it now looks as though Pritchard could be set for a move elsewhere with the summer transfer window open.

Sivasspor closing in on Alex Pritchard deal

As per this latest update, Sivasspor have been in talks with Birmingham about a deal to sign the attacking midfielder, and it seems a deal may not be far away.

It is claimed that Pritchard is now close to completing the move, which would see him play for a club outside of England for the first time in his career.

The 31-year-old signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with the Blues when he joined the club earlier this year.

As a result, his future at St Andrew's is secure until the end of the 2025/26 season, ensuring Birmingham will have scope to negotiate over this deal with Sivasspor.

If confirmed, Pritchard will become the first player to be sold by the club in the summer transfer window.

However, six senior players - John Ruddy, Marc Roberts, Ivan Sunjiic, Gary Gardner, Neil Etheridge and Scott Hogan - have already been confirmed to depart this summer after their contracts expired.

In terms of incomings, Birmingham have so far made one senior signing this summer, with goalkeeper Ryan Allsop joining from Hull City for an undisclosed fee, on a three-year deal.

For their part, Sivasspor finished last season seventh in the top-flight, missing out on a Europa Conference League place by seven points.

Alex Pritchard exit could be a blow for Birmingham City

It does feel as though the departure of Pritchard will be a disappointing for those at St Andrew's.

There is going to be plenty of pressure on the Blues to get out of League One next season, and win an immediate promotion back to the Championship.

Given he did previously the success of doing that during his first season with Sunderland, the experience Pritchard brings would surely have helped Birmingham's cause next season.

However, that is something they now look set to miss out on, and after his limited game time during the second-half of the last campaign, many Blues fans will feel they never got to see the best of him.

That being said, this could at least bring in a decent fee, and it is worth noting that when he was signed, it was by Tony Mowbray, who he had previously worked under at Sunderland.

Considering Mowbray has since been forced to step back from his role at St Andrew's, with Chris Davies now in charge, that may have changed their plans for Pritchard, to this point where they feel they can let him go.

With all that in mind, it will be interesting to see just how the departure of Pritchard might impact Birmingham City over the course of the 2024/25 campaign.