Birmingham City signed Nottingham Forest striker Lyle Taylor on loan last month, and the Montserrat man has since rediscovered his goal-scoring form under Lee Bowyer.
The former Charlton Athletic striker has linked up with his former Addicks boss at St Andrew’s.
Taylor and Bowyer enjoyed great success together at The Valley, earning promotion from League One together in 2019 when Taylor scored 22 League One goals across the season.
And Taylor would enjoy some more prolific form under Bowyer in the Championship before earning a move to Nottingham Forest in 2020.
In one-and-a-half Championship seasons at the City Ground though, Taylor would manage just seven Championship goals.
He was allowed to leave on loan last month and Bowyer seemingly jumped at the chance to bring him to St Andrew’s.
And it’s a move that’s so far paid off with Taylor having scored three goals in four Championship outings already, helping Blues to claim four points from their last four fixtures.
So do Birmingham City have an option to buy Taylor permanently?
It doesn’t seem like they do. There’s been nothing reported that suggests Birmingham City have an option to buy Taylor at the end of the season, nor that his loan move is with a view to buy.
But Bowyer has recently spoken out about Taylor’s potential future at Birmingham City – he told Birmingham Live last week:
“We have just got to enjoy the time that he is here now.
“Hopefully he keep getting goals for and helping us pick up points and that’s a discussion we will have to have in the summer.
“For now I am just looking forward to working with him again and hope that he keeps doing what he is doing.”
Bowyer’s coy response to whether or not Taylor might be at the club beyond this season suggests that Nottingham Forest are expecting him to return to the club at the end of this campaign.
The 31-year-old is still under contract at Nottingham Forest until 2023 and so Forest would have a degree of bargaining power come the summer time should they decide to cash in on Taylor.
And his current form is only boosting his price tag ahead of a potential sale.
His time at Forest has become stale and with the club now looking towards younger, more vibrant players under the guidance of CEO Dane Murphy, it seems like Taylor has fallen well out of favour at the club.
Blues could potentially sign him permanently in the summer, but it could yet cost a decent fee.
