Jack Butland is wanted at his former club by new head coach Wayne Rooney, despite signing for Rangers not too long ago
HIGHLIGHTS
- Birmingham City’s new owners have shown their ambition by sacking head coach John Eustace and replacing him with Wayne Rooney.
- Rooney is aligned with the club’s vision and goals, and he may be backed in the January transfer window to bring in players like Jack Butland.
- Signing Butland would be a positive move for Birmingham in the short-term, but ideally, the club should look for a younger goalkeeper for long-term stability.
This piece is a part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk’ series, which presents the individual viewpoints of our FLW Fan Pundits on the most recent breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings, and more.
By firing head coach John Eustace and replacing him with England legend Wayne Rooney last week, Birmingham City’s relatively new owners shown their seriousness.
Rooney, who had just left MLS team D.C. United, took over for Eustace even though the Blues were in sixth place in the Championship table because he was more in sync with the organization’s vision and objectives.
And it’s quite possible that Tom Wagner and company will support Rooney in the forthcoming January transfer window, with Jack Butland, an ex-Blues player, being one player in particular being watched.
Even though Butland just recently signed a long-term contract with Rangers during the most recent transfer window, The Sun reported this past weekend that Rooney is interested in him.
The Bristol-born goalkeeper began his professional career with City, appearing 46 times for them and even earning an England cap while on loan at St. Andrew’s. However, in January 2013, at the age of just 19, he joined for Stoke City for £3.3 million.
What is Jack Butland’s situation with Rangers?
Butland joined the Gers only in the summer of 2023 as part of Mick Beale’s extensive Ibrox restructuring.
With both Robby McCrorie and Jon McLaughlin on the bench so far in the 2023–24 season, the 30-year-old has been a constant for Glasgow’s blue half, playing 16 occasions and recording seven clean sheets.
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Butland signed a four-year deal though with Rangers, so any bid by Birmingham would have to be a decent one in order to try and prize the goalkeeper back to St. Andrew’s.
Would Jack Butland be a good signing for Birmingham City?
Butland would be a suitable addition for Birmingham in the near term, according to FLW’s Blues fan commentator Mike Gibbs, despite his recent lack of playing time before joining Rangers; however, in the long run, the club would prefer to go with someone younger than the 30-year-old.
Mike told Football League World, “I’d be quite thrilled with the signing to be honest.
“He succeeded a long line of very outstanding goalkeepers like as Joe Hart, Ben Foster, Maik Taylor, and Ian Bennett. He came through at Blues, was brilliant, and is perhaps one of the best ‘keepers we’ve ever had.
“I think we were disappointed to lose him, and we lost him at a time where financially we were not doing very well and he went a little bit on the cheap.
“I don’t think he’s fulfilled his potential – when you look back at when he was getting in those England squads as a young player without having that much first-team football, he was obviously thought of very highly.
“But, I don’t think he’s ever been able to really reach the heights that we all thought he would.
“I think it would be great if we did sign him, and I think goalkeeper is a position we’re going to need to strengthen in at some point – obviously John Ruddy signed a new contract but he’s getting on, approaching 40 and certainly for the long-term he’s not the answer.
“So, I do think we need to be thinking about a new ‘keeper, but from my perspective I’d be looking for someone a bit younger – I think Butland is early 30’s now so if we were to add a goalkeeper it should be someone who is in their early to mid-20’s that could come in and really develop at the club and be there for the next 10 years.”
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