Birmingham City have largely struggled this season and find themselves languishing perilously above the relegation zone in the Championship table.
However, in recent weeks they will have been buoyed by the improved performance of loanee Rekeem Harper who joined on loan from West Bromwich Albion in January.
Harper has made 12 appearances so far during his loan stint at St Andrew’s and despite his patchy first few games he has been impressive recently and has certainly helped Lee Bowyer’s side in their quest to avoid relegation to League One.
The former England youth international is due to return to West Brom in the summer but what are Blues’ chances of keeping the youngster?
A lot of this depends on which division both Birmingham City and West Brom find themselves in next season. The Baggies look almost destined to return to the second tier at the first time of asking and will most likely lose a large chunk of their midfield stars.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Okay Yokuslu and Conor Gallagher are all almost certain to return to their parent clubs in the summer meaning West Brom will once again be left with the likes of Jake Livermore and Romaine Sawyers being given more regular game time.
Should Blues drop to League One, it would virtually end any chance they have of signing Harper with the youngster wanting to play at a higher level and his chances at West Brom being more prevalent should they be relegated to the Championship.
Harper has certainly shown himself as a star for the future should he continue to apply himself and Blues could be open to the opportunity of retaining him but his destiny ultimately will have to be decided come the end of the current campaign.
