Birmingham have entered the race to sign striker Bright Enobakhare from Midlands rivals Wolves, with Coventry also hoping to land the 21-year-old.
Birmingham Live reported that the Championship club have declared an interest in signing Enobakhare as a replacement for Che Adams, who moved to Southampton this summer.
According to Birmingham Live, League One outfit Coventry had been hoping to bring in the Nigerian after a fruitful loan spell last season yielded six goals from 18 games, but the Sky Blues now seem to have competition for his signature.
Enobakhare extended his contract at Wolves earlier this summer, utilising a one-year option that takes his deal up to the end of next season.
Enobakhare is still young and had a decent scoring return during his loan spell at Coventry in the second half of last season.
However, he is still largely untested in the top two divisions of English football. He has yet to feature in the Premier League and made only five league starts in Wolves’ promotion season of 2017/18, coming off the bench on 16 occasions. Also, a six-game spell on loan at Kilmarnock last year ended without a goal.
During that Championship-winning campaign, he scored only one goal in his 639 minutes of game-time, the equivalent of just over seven matches. If a player scored just once every seven games in the second tier, it would be difficult to see him being any more prolific in the Premier League.
The centre forward position at Wolves next season will almost certainly go to Raul Jimenez, scorer of 17 goals in all competitions in 2018/19. Winger Diogo Jota, who scored 10 goals last season, can also play as a number nine, but behind that, there isn’t a huge degree of competition.
Leo Bonatini scored just once in nine games for Wolves last season and failed to find the net in five matches on loan at Nottingham Forest, while Rafa Mir scored seven goals in 30 games on loan at Las Palmas in the Spanish second tier.
Wolves aren’t blessed with centre forward options right now, which may give Enobakhare hope of being the first go-to player as a like-for-like backup for Jimenez.
However, he still trails Mir in terms of scoring return in a second-tier league and, with Kicker [via Birmingham Live] reporting that Wolves have targeted the signing of Joelinton from Hoffenheim, the signs are that Nuno Espirito Santo wants to bring in a proven striker from a top tier league.
Right now, it is difficult to see Enobakhare playing regularly at Wolves, especially as he has not travelled on their pre-season Asian tour. This is one player that the Molineux club can afford to sell.
Wolves fans, would you like to see Enobakhare stay at the club or should they move him on? Let us know your thoughts by commenting below!
