In an attempt to complete a deal for Alex Pritchard before the transfer deadline on Thursday night, Birmingham City is working.
In an attempt to bring Pritchard back to his former team, manager Tony Mowbray is now hammering out a contract with the Black Cats for the 30-year-old playmaker. Pritchard has performed admirably in the Championship while playing for Brentford, Norwich City, and his current team, Sunderland, who advanced to the play-offs the previous year.
Before being placed up for sale in the summer, Pritchard created seven assists for his teammates and scored four goals in 42 league games for Sunderland last season. At the time, Mowbray was surprised that no one was interested in taking Pritchard. In September, Mowbray commented, “I’m just amazed the phone hasn’t rung as much as it might have done because he’s a wonderful footballer.”
With 25 appearances this season, Pritchard has fought his way back into the picture at the Stadium of Light. After taking over as Sunderland’s head coach in December from Mowbray, Michael Beale started Pritchard in four straight games at the start of January.
But matters reached a breaking point last week, and Pritchard pulled out of their team to play Stoke City on Saturday because there was no acceptable contract offer on the table. It is anticipated that St Andrew’s will be his next stop. This is what we currently know:
Sunderland made an announcement just before Blues’ FA Cup match against Leicester City on Saturday, which encouraged Blues to pursue Pritchard. After notifying the club on Friday morning that he was no longer available for selection, Alex Pritchard withdrew from the squad that was supposed to play today. The midfield player also declared that he wanted to quit SAFC right away. The club has decided not to speak further at this time.
In his post-match press conference, Mowbray did not disguise his interest in Pritchard when questioned about Sunderland’s statement. “Permit Sunderland to proceed with their operations while we watch and see what transpires over the next five days,” he declared.
“What I do know is that Alex Pritchard is a player with a fantastic dead ball skill set, amazing ball manipulation, and a personality and character. We’ll watch things unfold and see what happens. I think I shouldn’t be talking about him because he is not one of our players, but we’ll see how things work out over the course of the next four or five days.
Beale is already on board with Pritchard’s departure.
Beale, the manager of Sunderland, has already accepted Pritchard’s departure. Before Pritchard’s contract expires in six months, they will secure a minimal amount for him, and Standard Liege winger Romaine Mundle will take his place.
Beale remarked, “To be honest, it’s been ongoing, not just the last 24 hours,” regarding Pritchard’s approaching departure. “This boy, whose contract is about to expire, has been offered a new one. I believe that mentally, this is too much for him.” Let’s face it, with the players that have left on loan and the ailments we have, we have always sought to bolster. Today’s numbers were really light, as you can see.
Regarding Pritchard, the only thing I would say is that it hasn’t been too hard for me; I went in expecting that there would be a talk between him and the club, and after that, it’s out of your control. We have been incredibly honest with Alex, and he has been really honest with us. I lose a player, but it presents chances for others, and Mason Burstow and Abdoullah Ba took advantage of them.
pending medical
According to Sky Sports, Pritchard will have a medical before signing a two-and-a-half-year deal with the Blues. It is now commonly anticipated that he will sign as the third player of the January window, after agreements involving Paik Seung-ho and Andre Dozzell.
