Birmingham City to hijack deal Sunderland and Leicester City are chasing:

•  EFL pundit Carlton Palmer suggests Amad Diallo could join Birmingham City if Tony Mowbray is appointed as manager.
•  Sunderland is interested in re-signing Diallo in January but faces competition from top Championship clubs.
•  Manchester United may prefer Diallo to go where he can play regularly, with Leicester and Sunderland being potential destinations.

EFL pundit Carlton Palmer has suggested that in-demand Manchester United attacker Amad Diallo could join Tony Mowbray at Birmingham City, should the 60-year-old’s appointment be confirmed.

Sunderland are said to be “desperate” to re-sign the winger in January but will have to fight off interest from one of the Championship’s top clubs.

Diallo joined the Red Devils in 2021 from Atalanta but found minutes hard to come by at Old Trafford. A loan spell at Sunderland saw him net 14 times for the Black Cats, leading them to the play-offs where they lost to Luton Town over two legs.

The forward was expected to be a part of the first team at United this season, but a knee injury suffered in pre-season has limited his involvement in the squad so far.

A January loan move has been reported, with several top clubs in the EFL, including Leicester City, interested in chasing the winger’s signature in January. Sunderland are one of those, hoping to sign their former player in a bid to keep up the fight for the top six this season.

Palmer: Sunderland and Leicester are keen to sign Diallo

Birmingham are not one of the clubs that have been linked with Diallo but, speaking exclusively to Football League World, Palmer has suggested the Ivory Coast international could head to St Andrew’s if Mowbray’s appointment is confirmed as expected.

He said: “Amad Diallo had a successful spell at Sunderland last season where he was their player of the season and he was absolutely outstanding. He picked up a knee injury in pre-season that’s kept him out. He’s fully fit now.

“He really enjoyed his time at Sunderland but he was working under Tony Mowbray, and he made it clear that he would go back to work for Tony Mowbray.

“This could put a spanner in the works because although Sunderland are keen to sign him, if Tony Mowbray gets the Birmingham job then I’m sure Amad will be keen to join him there.

“Leicester City are apparently interested in signing the player, and if he’s got the chance of playing for a side that’s going to get back to the Premier League, then of course he’s going to be interested in going there.”

While Leicester are top of the league and look like a more attractive option for the forward, the higher chance of first-team football at Sunderland could be the difference when deciding which club to move to in January.

Outside of Jack Clarke, the Black Cat’s forwards have struggled to find the net consistently this season. The addition of Diallo could add another dimension to their attack, and he could add some extra firepower to the team if he can recover the form he had for Sunderland last season.

Sunderland top scorers 2023/24 – Transfermarkt
Player	Appearances	Goals
Jack Clarke	27	12
Jobe Bellingham	26	4
Dan Neil	26	4
Daniel Ballard	25	3
Abdoullah Ba	24	2

Manchester United may prefer a move to Birmingham for Diallo

While Diallo seemed likely to rejoin Sunderland in January before the sacking of Mowbray, his parent club may have other ideas for a loan deal.

The former England international thinks that United would prefer Diallo to go somewhere where he could play regular football after spending the first half of the season out with an injury.

Palmer thinks that the Red Devils would rather Diallo follow Mowbray to Birmingham but that the player himself may want to return to Sunderland, where he won the club’s Player of the Season last term.

He said: “Who do I think Manchester United would prefer to send him to? Obviously Manchester United will want him to play, the player will be keen to play. Leicester play good football, Sunderland play good football and have a very, very young side.

“I think Manchester United would be keen to see him reunited with Tony Mowbray (as Birmingham manager), but I think the player himself might be keen to going back to the Stadium of Light and play for Sunderland.”

Whichever club Diallo moves to in January, it will be a huge boost to that club’s hopes of reaching their goals this season.

With the ability to play all across the front three and behind the striker and score goals regularly, Diallo could be a key player this season for whichever team wins his signature.