League One champions Birmingham City are leading the race to sign Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Tommy Doyle, amid competition from the midfielder’s former club, Sheffield United.
Having returned to the Championship by way of a record points total in the third tier, the Blues are prepared to take their ambition to the next level, with aspirations to challenge for promotion in the second tier.
To suit these ambitions, the West Midlands club are prepared to battle Sheffield United in the transfer market, who narrowly missed out on promotion at Wembley, being knocked out by Sunderland in dramatic fashion.
According to exclusive reports from Alan Nixon, Birmingham City are prepared to take a step further than Sheffield United financially, offering a loan to buy deal.
Who is Tommy Doyle?
A product of the Manchester City academy, Doyle has represented England across multiple youth levels, starring in the u21s side that lifted the 2023 UEFA Championship.
His first taste of regular first-team football came with Cardiff City in the latter half of the 2022-23 season, before winning promotion from the Championship the following season with the Blades.
Having played a vital role in a promotion to the Premier League, Doyle made the switch to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the hope of regular top-flight football.
However, his two seasons with the West Midlands outfit have been less than ideal, being restricted to appearances from the bench, having made only three league starts throughout the 2024-25 season.
Still only 23, a move back to the second tier may make sense for the midfielder to find regular first-team football and meet his potential.
Tommy Doyle to Birmingham City
The report declares that both clubs are likely to be exploring the loan market this summer, as a means of avoiding potential restrictions regarding big-money signings.
Therefore, a loan-to-buy deal for Tommy Doyle makes perfect sense, with the eventual fee supposedly in the region of £10 million.
The former Manchester City midfielder is a proven performer at the top end of the second tier, boasting previous promotion experience with Sheffield United.
Therefore, Doyle to Birmingham signals huge intent from the Blues this summer, after Tomoki Iwata and Seung-Ho Paik were standout performers in the midfield during Birmingham’s League One triumph.
Adding the profile of Doyle into the mix as a likely replacement for one of the midfielders would suggest that Birmingham are readying to compete immediately following their promotion.
While the Blades remain strongly in the race for their former midfielder, the reported financial intent from the newly promoted club could pose a huge factor in this deal.