Birmingham track Villa's Moore

Birmingham City boss Alex McLeish is reportedly considering making an offer for Aston Villa striker Luke Moore, who has rejected a new contract.

The 21-year-old, who appears to have slipped behind future England legend Maron Harewood in the Villa Park pecking-order, is also thought to have attracted the attention of Middlesbrough and Fulham.

However, Moore won't be available for a bargain price as Villa have opted to take up a one-year option on his current deal, to keep him tied to the club until the summer of 2009. It now appears the extension was made more for reasons of transfer value than anything else.

Steve Kutner, Moore's agent, told Sky Sports: "He rejected the contract because he feels he needs to move on. He needs to be playing first-team football at this stage of his career.

"He is 21 now and has been very unlucky that he hurt his shoulder last season when he did. Luke has already proved he can do it in the Premier League."

While signing Villa cast-offs is not the most enjoyable thing to do, it would appear there will be many of them during the upcoming few transfer windows if their owner Randy Lerner is to live up to his publicity and attempt to take them into the top-four.

...quick pause to regain composure after laughter...

Moore has shown he can score goals and is young enough to still be able to learn a lot under Alex McLeish. Whether his transfer value - probably between £2.5-3million - would be within Birmingham's budget, however, is another question.

***

To join in the debate at Vital Birmingham either on our forum or by leaving comments on articles, take a few seconds to register an account