The Birmingham City manager must prioritize one signing above all others

The start of June normally acts as the trigger for the transfer dominoes to start falling. The holidays are over and footballers now decide whether to stay put or make a move when this summer’s transfer window opens on June 14.

Birmingham City are gearing up for another busy summer, a year on from a transformative window in which the club signed 13 new players. Only eight of those players remain at the club and their futures are uncertain following relegation to League One.

We are all waiting for the new manager of the club, whoever he may be, to form the squad. The new boss won’t control absolutely everything, that’s for sure. The recruitment team will showcase players who fit the club’s newly adopted possession-based attacking philosophy, and the committee will select the best option for each position.

We can assume, however, that the new incumbent will have a big say. Last year, chief executive Garry Cook told BirminghamLive it would be “professionally naïve not to listen to the manager about what he needs and wants”.

READ: Linked midfielder, possible exits and the men pulling the strings at Birmingham City

READ: What the Blues players have been up to since relegation as the transfer window approaches

Tony Mowbray arrived in January and quickly identified that the Blues’ difficulties in keeping possession stemmed from a lack of technically gifted midfielders. Andre Dozzell, Paik Seung-ho and Alex Pritchard were signed with varying degrees of success.

If the Blues are going to succeed with the ball then it will be important to sign a goalkeeper with ball playing skills. There is at least one vacancy in the Blues’ goalkeeping department following Neil Etheridge’s exit and there could be another if John Ruddy rejects the contract offer off the table.

No-one doubts Ruddy’s leadership qualities, his shot-stopping abilities or his ability to command a packed penalty area, but his long-term successor in goal for the Blues must marry those talents and start rear attacks. Goalkeepers these days are expected to play forward-splitting passes to pick out midfielders and pop balls up the legs of full-backs.

They really exist. Ryan Allsop wasn’t pulling that many trees in the Championship before Liam Rosenior noticed his talent in possession.

Signing the right goalkeeper for the style of play Blues owners crave, Knighthead, should be the new manager’s first port of call. The Blues need to build right from the back before worrying about the other pieces of the puzzle.

Do you agree that a goalkeeper who plays the ball should be the priority? Have your say in the comments section HERE