MATIJA SARKIC TO RETURN FROM WOLVES?

With rumours this morning from certain journalists suggesting we may be looking to bring in Matija Sarkic back to the club in a permanent signing this summer, I thought I would point out the facts and also give you my opinion on this potential move.

Sarkic loan Firstly, I feel that I must mention Sarkic’s previous spell at Blues. When he signed on loan from Wolves for the 21/22 season, he made 23 league appearances keeping 10 clean sheets for us before a dislocated shoulder not only ended his loan at Blues but also the rest of his season.

He impressed that much, despite only playing half of the Championship fixtures in the season, that he was voted player of the season by the fans. He returned to Wolves following his injury and signed a new 3-year contract, he spent the first half of the season on the bench at Wolves before being loaned to Stoke City in January 23.

Senior goalkeepers currently at Blues are John Ruddy and Neil Etheridge with the former being the club’s current number 1. John had a great season with us last year playing 43 times and being voted players player of the season, he was very dependable and made very few errors over all those games. He is 36 and is contracted to the Blues until the end of this season and is certainly considered by many to be more than capable of remaining as our number one keeper for this upcoming season.

Neil Etheridge, 33, is currently considered to be the club’s number 2 after spending the majority of last season on the bench as back up to John Ruddy. It is believed that the club have wanted to move him on for some time due to him reportedly being on high wages. Certainly, too high for someone who is sitting on the bench for most of the time.

So with John’s performances last season is there really a need to sign a goalkeeper who is unlikely to want to spend time on the bench as cover and is this really a position we need to be looking at right now whilst we are trying to improve the squad on a budget due to FFP regulations?

My Verdict 

In my opinion, if we were able to sign Sarkic, who is 26, and move on Neil Etheridge without this stopping us being able to sign players in other positions, I think it would be another positive move for not only this season but for the future.

I believe we still need improvements outfield with at least one other centre back to play on the left side and a mobile striker, so to me unless we are still able to add both of these as a minimum requirement for now, I would be more than happy to keep John Ruddy as our number one and maybe look at a new goalkeeper next summer.

So in conclusion, if we can bring in Sarkic, move Neil on to another club and still be able to bring in players in the aforementioned positions we need then why not, it would be another step forward for the club and would become our 10th permanent signing of this transfer window!