Birmingham City faithful may have mixed feelings about departing duo but time is right: View | OneFootball

Birmingham City's Lukas Jutkiewicz and Scott Hogan look set to depart St. Andrew's Stadium in the summer after many years at the club and it feels like the right time for both to move on.

It has been a tough season in the Championship for Birmingham City. After a brilliant start under John Eustace, the club were in the play-off places, but after his bizarre sacking, things started to unravel for the Blues and their relegation to League One was confirmed on the final day of the Championship season.

Jutkiewicz and Hogan are two of the many Blues players to have struggled for form this season. The pair have only managed a combined four goals and three assists in the league and were replaced in the starting lineup by loanee Fulham striker Jay Stansfield​​​​​​.

The 21-year-old's form limited Jutkiewicz and Hogan's minutes as he won the awards of Players', Supporters', and Young Player of the Season.

The forward pair's output in front of goal has been on the decline for several seasons. Hogan's one league goal is his lowest tally since joining the club.

Both player's contracts are set to expire in the summer and with little talk of an extension, it looks increasingly likely that they will move on.

Lukas Jutkiewicz has been an excellent servant to the Blues

Jutkiewicz joined the club on a loan deal in August 2016 from Burnley and scored his first goal the following month, a dramatic late header to seal a 2-1 comeback victory against Sheffield Wednesday.

That was a sign of things to come from the 6'1" striker whose aerial ability prompted manager Gianfranco Zola to purchase the then 27-year-old on a permanent deal for £1 million, according to the Lancashire Telegraph.

The Southampton-born forward's best season in the second city came in the 2018/19 Championship season when he scored 14 goals and had ten assists. He was one of only four players to chart double figures in both statistics that term.

Jutkiewicz won the Championship Player of the Month Award in October 2018 after he scored his first senior career hattrick in a 3-1 victory over Rotherham United.

His season was recognised by the statistics website WhoScored.com as the best of any player in the division, with an overall 7.72 rating. Birmingham Mail also rated him as their player of the season.

The now 35-year-old has played 330 games for Birmingham, with his appearance off the bench in their final-day win against Norwich City looking likely to be his final one.

Scott Hogan rarely hit form in Birmingham

Hogan joined Birmingham on an initial loan deal from Aston Villa in January 2020, a rare transfer between the bitter city rivals, before signing permanently eight months later.

He enjoyed a debut goal against Nottingham Forest, assisted by new strike-partner Jutkiewicz, and finished his first eight games with seven goals and one assist. This proved to be his best patch of form while at the club.

The former Ireland international's most productive seasons came in the 2021/22 and 2022/23 Championship seasons, where he scored ten goals in each, the only times he hit double-figures in terms of league goals over his four-and-a-half seasons at St. Andrew's Stadium.

The striker was never able to act on the promise he showed in the first half of the 2016/17 Championship season as a 24-year-old at Brentford, where he left the club with 14 goals and one assist in 25 games.

Now is the right time for the duo to depart

Though supporters may be gutted to see particularly Jutkiewicz move on, it does now feel like the right time for the two forwards to depart.

The players might seek transfers further down the Football League to reignite their careers, such as what Birmingham-born striker Matt Smith did when he joined Salford City in 2022. The 34-year-old scored 24 League Two goals this season, his best career tally.

Jutkiewicz and Hogan have amassed over 450 Birmingham appearances between them, but the 35 and 32-year-old strikers have been on a steady decline toward the end of their careers in Small Heath.

Both players have experienced great moments in a blue shirt, but it seems to be the right time for the pair to depart upon the expiry of their contracts in the summer.