Gary Rowett: 'Birmingham City struggling to compete in transfer market'

Birmingham City manager Gary Rowett has admitted that his side cannot match the spending power of some of their Championship rivals.

The Blues have only managed to bring in Daniel Cleary and Robert Tesche on free transfers so far this summer, with the club's pursuit of Sheffield United striker Che Adams being a source of particular frustration for Rowett.

The Blades have rejected two bids of more than £1m for the 20-year-old, and Rowett hinted that the club may be priced out of a move for the former non-League forward.

"You can name six or seven teams in this division who, if they want a deal doing, can massively overpay to get that deal done," he told BBC WM.

"We're not in that position. We've almost got to try and underpay and see if we can make it happen. No disrespect to us, but that's just where we are in comparison to some of the others."

Birmingham will get their Championship campaign underway at home to Cardiff City next weekend.