Blues are expecting the transfer market to build to a crescendo of activity the closer the summer deadline approaches.
It has been a ‘slow’ window so far, for the club and others, with one or two exceptions.
Blues do not have to surpass 20+ for ins and outs this year, as we have routinely seen, because Chris Davies squad has an element of continuity about it.
And so far, five players have come in – two of whom were on loan last season – and two have exited, plus Tommy Doyle, Ibrahim Osman and Jonathan Panzo.
Last summer, Blues signed six players in as many days at the very beginning of July.
But with the likes of Beadle already a known quantity and August Priske, Jhon Solis and Carlos Vicente added in January with an eye on the long-term, a chunk of necessary work has already been done.
That is not to say Davies is finished in the market, as injuries have accentuated needs as well as uncertainty surrounding the futures of Marvin Ducksch, Kanya Fujimoto and Lee Buchanan.
“My position on it, as I’ve said in all the windows, is to come out of it stronger than we went in,” Davies told Richard Wilford of Radio WM.
“We have got work to do. I think you also possibly judge it by the last two seasons’ standard as in the sense we had a lot of players in by this point.
“But it is slow across the board. What that means is there will be a lot of activity within all the clubs within the next four weeks.”
Midfield and the forward areas are where the options are being sifted through.
Ipswich Town’s Jack Taylor and Leeds United’s Joe Gelhardt are just a couple of players on the radar.
But Davies has all but ruled out a return for Osman, the winger he wanted back from Brighton & Hove Albion after his loan in January.
“I think we still need to add in that (forward) area.
“There are a couple that have moved on from that area of the pitch. We do want to make sure we have got multiple threats to score goals home and away.
“So yes we are looking in that area to see if we can bring in quality. It’s a bit of a cliché, but it is about quality not quantity.
“I would rather get the right few players in than a whole load who can’t make the difference. We need to focus on that.”
On Osman, Davies commented: “I think based on how well he has done back there with Brighton it’s not something I’m not feeling is too likely.
“I am a big fan of the player. I thought he did so well for us. Speed and power. His attitude.
“But he has gone back there and what I can pick up is that they like the look of him, they have got the UEFA Conference League this season as well.
“So whether he eventually leaves is looking doubtful, actually.
“We wish him the very best but we will have to make sure we have lots of targets in the next few weeks that we can (try to) bring in to boost us in that area.”
One player who may get a chance to change Davies’ mind – albeit a slim one – is Kanya, who has been trusted in pre-season due to injury to Marvin Ducksch, then Demarai Gray and the nursing of Jay Stansfield after his ankle issue.
The Japanese schemer signed from Gil Vicente in Portugal last summer was superfluous in 2025/26 and it is difficult to imagine him being among the first names on the team sheet as the weeks tick by.
But for the moment he has found favour in the 10 role behind the striker.
Davies said: “Kanya has had a bit of a mini-revival in a sense that he was not featuring at all in squads and through some of the depth issues that we’ve had he has had an opportunity to play regular minutes in pre-season, and he shows up really well in that number 10 position and he’s had some good games.
“He’s certainly been very diligent in the job I’ve asked him to do in there.
“That has grown his confidence, and probably my confidence in him, but he’s a player that can’t have another season like he had last year where he didn’t play too much.
“I think a lot will be looked at in the next few weeks in that, but he’s in a good period and has had a good pre-season.”
