Birmingham City have handed a green light for one of their current young players to complete a permanent exit away from St. Andrews, with the player set to complete a move to League Two before the end of the January transfer window.
The League One leaders maintained their advantage at the top of the table, following a narrow victory against Exeter City on Saturday and have extended their unbeaten run to 14 matches across all competitions.
After recently confirming the signing of experienced Championship defender Grant Hanley, the door could have been opened for one of their defensive options to secure a permanent move away from the club.
According to journalist Dan Marsh, Birmingham City defender Josh Williams is set to end his current loan spell and sign for League Two strugglers Carlisle United on a permanent contract, becoming their latest January signing.
How has he fared so far this season?
The 22-year-old began the campaign with Birmingham City and featured in the EFL Trophy earlier in the season, before being loaned out to National League promotion-chasers Gateshead in November in a deal that was excepted to run until the end of January.
Since joining Carl Magnay’s side, Williams has featured in 10 National League matches, helping to keep three clean sheets but hasn’t manage to contribute to a goal thus far.
However, his performances for Gateshead have evidently been enough to impress Mike Williamson’s side, as a permanent deal edges ever closer.
Williamson raids his former club, again…
Not for the first time since leaving Gateshead, Carlisle United manager Mike Williamson has once-again called upon a familiar face to help try and save the club from relegation out of the Football League.
During the January transfer window thus far, Williamson has already signed MK Dons playmaker Stephen Wearne for the second time since his time at Gateshead, whilst midfielder Callum Whelan joined for an undisclosed fee from the National League side earlier this month.
It isn’t uncommon for managers to call upon former players in a new environment, but it is a risky strategy given Carlisle United currently sit rock bottom of League Two and will be a Non-League side next season if they don’t manage to escape to safety before the season comes to an end.
The decision to sign another Gateshead player is likely to cause anger amongst the National League side, but there isn’t much they can do given the player is contracted to Birmingham City and it’ll be the Blues that financially benefit from this deal.
