The Hatters want to add experienced goalkeeper John Ruddy to their Premier League squad
Birmingham City’s 2023-24 Championship season got off to a solid start with a 1-1 draw on their travels against Swansea City.
In some ways, it was a new-look Blues side from the outset, with four new newcomers given debuts by John Eustace and even a return and reprieve for Ivan Sunjic, who spent last year on loan at Hertha Berlin in Germany.
Siriki Dembele, one of Birmingham’s debutants, opened the goal in the first half, but the Welsh side equalized in the second half when Jerry Yates scored.
It ended 1-1 at the Swansea.com Stadium, and it was a satisfactory first result for Tom Wagner as the new owner of Birmingham, who has huge aspirations for the club and has managed to bring NFL legend Tom Brady on board as a minority partner.
This summer has seen some interesting permanent acquisitions, but it appears that City missed out on one when former loanee goalkeeper Matija Sarkic went from Wolverhampton Wanderers to Millwall on a permanent basis for £1.2 million
Alan Nixon said that City were interested in re-signing Sarkic this summer but lost out – this shows that Eustace is looking for a new number one at St Andrew’s.
And it looks that the current first-choice Blues goalkeeper, John Ruddy, is a surprise target for a Premier League team, which might hasten the process.
According to Alan Nixon via Patreon, the Hatters seek to add the 36-year-old to their goalkeeping ranks after signing Thomas Kaminski from Blackburn Rovers.
Luton are still thin in that department though and with just a week to go until their first ever Premier League campaign begins, they are now looking to bring Ruddy in to give Kaminski some competition?
Who is John Ruddy?
Ruddy has been a professional for almost 20 years now having come through the youth system of Cambridge United, making his debut in 2004 at the age of 18 for the U’s.
He ended up moving on to Everton whilst still a teenager and played just once for the Toffees, instead gaining experience across the EFL and in Scotland with various loan moves before moving to Norwich City in 2010 – a place where he got regular Premeir League and Championship football.
Ruddy played 243 times for the Canaries before signing for Wolves in 2017, where he spent five years and played in 72 matches as for all but his first season at Molineux he was a back-up goalkeeper.
The veteran joined Birmingham last summer to compete with Neil Etheridge for a starting spot, and he was immediately thrown in as first-choice by Eustace and played all season until missing the final three league matches through injury – despite being 36 years of age he kept 14 Championship cleen sheets.
What is John Ruddy’s situation at Birmingham City?
Ruddy penned a one-year deal with Birmingham last summer, but thanks to his form in the early stages of 2022-23 he penned an extension last November.
That means Ruddy is contracted to City until June 2024, meaning Luton will need to pay a fee despite Ruddy being 36 years of age.
.
