West Midlands rivals Birmingham City and West Bromwich Albion will face each other in the Championship next season and are set to fight each other for the signing of a young Premier League attacker.
Chris Davies and Ryan Mason were both part of Ange Postecoglou’s coaching staff in recent seasons and are now battling for the loan move of Spurs winger Mikey Moore.
The 17-year-old has been involved in the Premier League side’s first team in the past year but may spend the 2025/26 season in the Championship, as reported by Football League World.
Teams interested in loan deal for Moore
Birmingham and West Brom are both interested in signing the Spurs teenager, who has made 21 appearances for the North London side over the past two seasons.
The winger became the club’s youngest-ever Premier League player in May 2024 when he featured against then-champions Manchester City at the age of 16 years and 277 days.
He then made 19 appearances in all competitions in the most recent campaign and scored in the league phase of the Europa League in a 3-0 win over Swedish side IF Elfsborg.
He has also appeared internationally for England between U15 and U19 level, scoring 20 goals in 38 matches overall.
It now appears that Davies and Mason want to recruit him temporarily as they battle for top-half finishes in the second tier.
The former recently led the Blues to the League One title at the first time of asking in his first senior managerial role, as they racked up 111 points and broke fellow West Midlands side Wolverhampton Wanderers’ record of 103.
On the other hand, Mason only just took over as head coach of the Baggies following the sacking of Tony Mowbray, who failed to take them into the play-offs.
The former England international had been part of Spurs’ coaching system since 2018, having been forced to retire from playing at the age of 26 after fracturing his skull in a match for Hull City the previous year.
Tottenham connections
Both managers will know Moore well from their times working under recently sacked Spurs head coach Postecoglou.
Davies spent just one season at the club, having joined from Leicester City in 2023, whereas Mason was involved in the Lilywhites’ academy and first-team set-ups for several years.
Any move away from North London would be the youngster’s first in his career, so a familiar face would likely appeal to him more when deciding which club to join.
Therefore, both sides would be ahead of any other teams who join the race for the promising attacker in the forthcoming weeks.
Davies and Mason would also be his best options for developing his talent, given their familiarity with him and experience in coaching young players.
Which team would be the best fit for him?
Birmingham played a very controlling style of football in Davies’ first season at the helm, averaging 66.9% possession with an 83.5% pass completion rate, topping the table in League One for both statistics.
They also scored the most goals and had the second-best shot-conversion rate in the league.
Despite them competing in a higher and tougher division next season, Davies will likely want his side to play similarly, especially given the money at their disposal to sign high-quality players.
In Mason’s short time as interim head coach at Spurs following Jose Mourinho’s sacking in 2021, he favoured a 4-2-3-1 formation and improved the side’s pressing and possession numbers.
Opposition sides were allowed fewer passes when in control of the ball when compared to under Mourinho, and Spurs’ possession went up from 50.04% to 58.32%.
Therefore, it appears both Davies and Mason would use Moore in similar systems which would give him more time on the ball and opportunities to create goals.
As he is still just 17 years old, he would also have the energy to play in a high-pressing style of play and force opponents into mistakes.
With Mason recently taking up his position at West Brom, it seems more likely that Moore would be brought in as one of his first signings and an example of how he wants his players to play.
In contrast, Birmingham may look for more experienced second-tier players in the hope of reaffirming themselves as one of the division’s top sides.