Wolves appear set to keep Matija Sarkic as number two next season, ending Birmingham City’s chances of signing the keeper. The 24-year-old spent the previous campaign on loan at Blues, keeping ten clean sheets in 23 appearances before injury meant he didn’t play from January.

Despite that, Sarkic still won the supporters Player of the Year at St. Andrew’s, highlighting just how much of an impact he made. Therefore, it’s no secret that Blues wanted to bring the stopper back, with the Championship side willing to do a loan or a permanent transfer if possible. However, The Athletic have revealed today that Wanderers’ plan to keep Sarkic as backup to Jose Sa next season, with the idea to give him opportunities in the cup games.

John Ruddy has left Wolves following his contract expiring at Molineux, which has allowed Sarkic to move up in the pecking order. Blues are now expected to look elsewhere for a new keeper as they seek to bring in someone to compete with Neil Etheridge for the number one spot. Firstly, you can understand why Wolves are keeping Sarkic because they need a backup after Ruddy’s exit and in Sarkic they have a keeper who has done well in the Championship.

Of course, it’s hugely frustrating for Blues as the keeper was excellent last season and appeared to really enjoy his time working under Lee Bowyer. Now, it’s about looking for alternatives and it will be interesting to see who they do bring in, with a lot of work needed to be done at Birmingham City. However it may seem, Birmingham have already been dealt a huge transfer blow this summer with this latest development. Despite being very much in need of a defender this summer, they will have to look elsewhere if they still want to complete a signing in that department.