New manager Chris Davies needs a new team after 10 players departed the club at the end of last season, including influential duo Cody Drameh and Ivan Sunjic, and top scorer Jay Stansfield.

Blues need reinforcements from back to front. There are currently only 12 players contracted to Blues that are over the age of 21.

The Keep Right On Podcast assembled on Wednesday to highlight two potential signings for each department. Ryan Deeney (RD) looked at goalkeepers, Alex Dicken (AD) took the defenders, Brian Dick (BD) the midfielders and Ben Hawker (BH) was on forwards duty.

Goalkeepers

RD: “From the first moment this summer Arthur Okonkwo was a name that stood out to me. He has been released by Arsenal and is a free agent. Given his Arsenal links and his links with Wrexham – where he played on loan last season – he might have clubs from all over Europe looking at him. He’s had a loan spell abroad, he’s had a loan spell at Crewe, which went really well, and he went to Wrexham and did very well there. He’s a good size and frame and will have learnt a lot of the things Blues are probably going to do this season, in terms of playing out from the back, during his time at Arsenal. He’s really strong in terms of his command of the area as well. He’s very good at claiming crosses and seems to have a good, long arm span. You’ve already got Allsop in the building who provides that experience, so maybe the next addition is a younger goalkeeper.

“Sol Brynn is another name that’s popped up. He’s currently at Middlesbrough and had loan spells in Scotland, League Two with Swindon, and in League One last season with Leyton Orient. He’s a bit of an all rounder; a strong shot-stopper, commanding, his sweeper keeper numbers are quite strong. I don’t know whether he will be available, it depends on what Middlesbrough do with their goalkeeping department.”

Defenders

AD: “I have focussed on centre-backs because Blues are reasonably well stocked in both full-back positions at the moment. Danny Batth is the first one I’ve gone for. He’s 33 and a free agent having just left Norwich City. He was third or fourth choice there last season, they had Ben Gibson, Shane Duffy and Grant Hanley as well, but he managed to play 16 games still. He was integral to the Wolves and Sunderland sides that won promotion to the Championship in 2013 and 2022 respectively and captained Wolves to the Premier League in 2017, although he didn’t play as much in the second half of that season with other players preferred in a three-man defence. I think Danny Batth is an experienced, useful option on a short-term contract in League One. We’ve mentioned Blues lacked leaders last season and there should be some more experienced players brought in who can show the others the way in the early weeks under Chris Davies. Batth would be a good candidate to do that. From speaking to people who’ve worked with him in the past I’ve only heard good things and there’s also the added bonus that, like Allsop, he’s a local lad.

“My second one is Ronnie Edwards, who is still only 21 and a really, really promising centre-back and a player who is rated by many clubs across the country. He’s been in League One with Peterborough in the past couple of seasons and has a lot of teams looking at him. West Ham have been credited with an interest, also Crystal Palace, so there’s going to be a race for him. He’s out of contract next summer so the likelihood is that Peterborough will sell him this year. It’s whether Blues could convince him to reject all the Championship and Premier League offers on his table and convince him to stick around for another season in League One. It would also probably take Blues breaking that £4 million transfer record for League One that Sunderland set back in 2019 when they signed Will Grigg from Wigan. I remember watching him in that friendly last year and the way he stepped out and controlled play from the back was outstanding. Blues would have been able to play possession-based football better last year if they had someone like him at centre-back.”

Midfield

BD: “The first one I’ve come up with I think would be a loan player, a young man called Freddie Potts who is at West Ham. He spent last season on loan at Wycombe and is a very neat, very modern, number six. He’s 20 years old and played 43 games last season and walked away with the Wycombe fans’ player of the season, and players’ player as well.. He really did defy the adage of you don’t fall in love with a loan player, or the Jay Stansfield risk as we know it up here. He’s a really refined young footballer. I don’t think Blues would be able to buy him because there’s talk of him going back to West Ham and Julen Lopetegui having a look at him, but if they could, they should. And if they can’t, they should try and loan him. Very neat, very mobile, with a lovely range of passing, scores a few goals but not bucket loads. Interestingly, it seems while all his young friends have gone off to different parts of the world to enjoy a holiday, Freddie Potts has gone back to West Ham to work on his fitness for next season. I really like him.

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