Birmingham in bid for Turner

Last updated : 08 August 2011 By Covsupport News Service/RD

Birmingham City are showing interest in Coventry City's central defender Ben Turner.

Turner missed the second half of last season with a serious knee injury and while he was recovering he signed a three and a half year deal with the Sky Blues.

The 23 year old who came through the club's academy was born in Birmingham and was a Blues fan as a child. With Coventry City having more central defenders than they need at the moment it is possible that one could be sold if the deal was financially sound.

City chairman Ken Dulieu said a few weeks ago that while he wasn't looking to sell players, he would be prepared to wheel and deal if it were to benefit the club and with three years of his contract remaining, Turner is a valuable asset to a cash strapped club.

It is speculated that a fee of between £2 and £3m would be  required to prise Turner from Coventry, but it must be remembered that Birmingham are also under financial scrutiny after their chairman Carson Yeung was arrested on charges of money laundering in Hong Kong.

In a twist though, if Turner were to be sold to Birmingham City, that would in turn make the departure of Birmingham defender Scott Dann a little easier and that would mean a windfall payment for Coventry because of the sell on clause when he left Coventry for Birmingham.

So if Turner was sold to Birmingham for £3m and Dann were sold by Birmingham for £10m, Coventry would get another £1m

 
In the event of a deal being done, whether City boss Andy Thorn would see any of the money is a different matter, but it was evident on Saturday that Coventry lack a cutting edge attack and if they are to survive in the Championship this season, a quality striker is a necessity.