Watford ‘had £8million January bid turned down’ for Birmingham ace Pedersen
Birmingham City reportedly turned down an £8million offer from Watford for highly-rated Danish left-back Kristian Pedersen in January.
The Hornets tried to sign Pedersen during the last transfer window, with reports at the time suggesting they were not close to Birmingham’s asking price for the Denmark international.
It has now emerged Watford pushed quite hard to sign the 25-year-old, who has been an integral part of Pep Clotet’s squad at St Andrew’s.
Danish newspaper BT’s transfer window podcast states that the Premier League club were prepared to pay £8million for the defender, which would have seen Birmingham pick up a tasty profit on the player.
Clotet said in January that the Championship club, who paid an undisclosed fee to sign Pedersen in 2018, had not even discussed selling him in January.
The ex-Union Berlin star has emerged as a key player for the Blues this season, scoring four goals and assisting two more in 37 Championship starts – making him an ever-present in the side.
🇩🇰 Kristian Pedersen is being watched by Danish boss Age Hareide.
“Age has watched a lot of our games because of Kristian, he knows Kristian very well, but he wanted to see him live to get an idea and feeling of how he plays.” – Pep Clotet.
— Birmingham City FC (@BCFC) March 6, 2020
There is little wonder that he attracted Premier League interest, but for how long can Birmingham hold off the predators must be open to question.
The Blues are sliding towards the relegation places after a run of five games without a win although realistically they are probably only one more win away from safety.
But Pedersen is probably too good to be kept in the Championship for much longer and finances will dictate if he stays.
Although £8million seems a decent bid, and one which most Championship clubs wouldn’t turn down, the breakdown of the offer may not have been to Birmingham’s liking.
The fee could have been spread over the length of the proposed contract and meant that the club received only a fraction of the £8million up front.
Clotet’s men were in position to challenge for a play-off place in January although their recent dip in results has taken the club out of the picture.
