Exclusive: Birmingham City backed to strike fresh Rangers FC transfer deal | OneFootball

The attacking midfielder joined Blues on loan in January and is already starting to make an impression.

Lee Hendrie has urged Birmingham City to make the loan signing of Rangers FC's Kieran Dowell a permanent one in the summer, as they close in on the League One title.

Championship football looks incredibly likely to be played at St. Andrew's once again next season, with Blues 12 points clear of second-place Wrexham, while they also have a game in hand on the Red Dragons.

A 1-1 draw away to Northampton Town on Saturday has slowed their momentum slightly, but Chris Davies' side are still in an incredible position with 10 games to go, and it is seemingly a matter of when, not if, they lift the trophy.

Plans will already be in place for the summer, and with the second tier on the horizon, Birmingham need to bring in even more quality to ensure that they can cope with the step-up immediately, and not get left behind.

Hendrie makes Birmingham, Dowell transfer prediction

Dowell joined Blues in the January transfer window from Scottish giants Rangers, and he has slotted in nicely into the attacking midfield role. With a wealth of Championship experience already, however, there may be a desire to see him return to B9 once this season comes to an end.

It is clear that his place at his parent club is all but gone, and Davies may pounce on the opportunity to keep hold of one of his sure-to-be promotion heroes.

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Lee Hendrie has weighed in on Birmingham' chances of signing the 27-year-old on a permanent deal in the summer.

He told FLW: "They're coming out of League One into the Championship, they're going to need players like him, and I think that will be the key to their success.

"If they can keep a good squad of players who can adapt and play in the Championship, I think he's definitely one that you'd think that they'd want to maybe keep on a permanent basis in the summer."

Hendrie continued: "Squad depth in the Championship is so key because of the relentless amount of games and that has been proven in League One as well for them.

"I do feel that they should keep Dowell on a permanent. There's still more to come from him, so keeping Dowell is a must."

There are flaws to Dowell signing for Birmingham in the Championship

The former Everton youngster has made over 120 appearances in the Championship for Derby County, Norwich City, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United and Wigan Athletic, playing a role at both ends of the table in the past.

This experience will be extremely valuable to Birmingham as they prepare for their return to the division and he has the ability to ease himself straight back in.

However, there will be concerns about his pace and there is an argument that a player with more speed and agility could be of more worth to Blues in the second tier over Dowell. His struggles at Derby stemmed from the fact that he could not keep up with the pace of the games and his loan deal was brought to an end early.

While he may be performing to a good standard in League One, the step-up is a large one and with the likes of Ipswich Town, Leicester City and Southampton returning to the Championship, the games will only become tougher and quicker - something that the Rangers loanee may find tough to cope with.