Birmingham City's Tony Mowbray outlines Cody Drameh stance amid Leeds United loanee future question

Birmingham City boss Tony Mowbray is delighted with what he has seen from Leeds United loanee Cody Drameh, but he hasn't discussed signing him permanently just yet. The defender has been on loan since August at St Andrew's where he has made the right-back spot his own and collected four assists in 20 appearances for the club in all competitions.

His form hasn't helped the Blues find stability, though, with the club sitting 20th in the Championship table, just two places above the drop zone and they are onto their third manager of the campaign in Mowbray, following the dismissals of John Eustace and Wayne Rooney.

The former Sunderland man joined the Blues earlier this month and of course, he is still getting to grips with his squad, but he has run the rule over Drameh and likes what he has seen so far. The defender will remain with Birmingham until the end of the season, when he is expected to become a free agent due to his contract with the Whites expiring.

As such, while Birmingham would have to pay compensation to Leeds, given Drameh's age, they would be able to make his loan permanent in the summer without paying a transfer fee. Mowbray hasn't thought that far ahead, but on first impressions it seems like he would be keen.

“I am really happy with him,” Mowbray said when asked about Drameh's future. “We haven’t had the discussion with him beyond ‘let’s try and win the next game and see if you can stay in the team and prosper.’ I know he’s been around and had a few loans. He has shown me that he can play at the level.”

Drameh started the season as part of Daniel Farke's Whites squad and was actually on the bench against Birmingham earlier in the season. However, after a difficult afternoon at Ipswich Town, the decision was made to allow him to spend the final year of his contract out on loan, with the prospect of a renewal looking very unlikely.