Tony Mowbray has provided an update on the future of Birmingham City striker Jay Stansfield, amid interest from Sunderland.
Sunderland remain in the market for a new goalscorer this month and have been linked with a move for Jay Stansfield.
The Black Cats came close to signing him on loan from Fulham in the summer, but 21-year-old instead chose to move to the Midlands with Birmingham City.
While Sunderland’s strikers have struggled, Stansfield has netted seven goals and provided two assists in the Championship so far.
While he is a mainstay in the Blues’ first team, Stansfield has already been linked with an premature return to Fulham.
Fulham do have the option to recall the forward and could potentially send him back out on loan to a side further up the table, with Sunderland one of a number of clubs interested in taking him on board.
The Black Cats are joined by Ipswich Town in their pursuit of Stansfield, with the Tractor Boys desperate to bolster their attack following injury to George Hirst.
Stansfield was handed a start in Tony Mowbray‘s first game in charge of Birmingham at the weekend, and now the former Sunderland coach has suggested that there is no reason why he would leave St Andrews in the January window.
Speaking to Birmingham World, Mowbray said: “I’ve been trying to get hold of Marco Silva over the last couple of days. I get on well with Marco. I’m pretty sure he would’ve been telling me if there were any issues or problems.
“I think the kid loves it here, ultimately. I had a one-on-one, I looked him in the eye. There are other interested parties but I think he wants to stay here and score goals. He likes the dressing room, he likes the players. I think he’s here just to progress his career.
“If he wants to play in the Premier League, he needs to be playing in the Championship and you need to be careful sometimes when the perception of a more successful club comes along near the top of the table. You’ve got to be careful that you don’t go there and play two games of the last 19.
“There’s every chance he’s going to play just about all the minutes in this team. I think he’s in a good place here. I don’t know, there’s a small tight window for things to happen [Fulham to recall] if need be.”
Which striker will Sunderland sign?
Sunderland really need to hurry up their pursuit of a striker, but there has been very few options that the club have actually been linked with recently.
I would still hope Kieffer Moore is our main priority, but he also seems the hardest to land given the increasing interest in his signature.
Jay Stansfield would also be a brilliant signing given his success in Birmingham so far, but I don’t think it would make that much sense for Fulham to recall him when he is clearly content in the Midlands.
Sam Gallagher seems to be a third option and is definitely the worst. The 28-year-old has only reached double digits once and is certainly not the man who is going to catapult us into promotion contention.
It would not surprise me if we don’t get any of these strikers though. The club really appear to have been trying their best not to bring a goalscorer in for the past year now.