Blues enter race for Palace’s Watson

Neil Warnock has revealed Birmingham have entered the hunt to sign Crystal Palace midfielder Ben Watson.

Palace are willing to listen to offers for Watson, who has just 12 months remaining on his current contract.

Chairman Simon Jordan confirmed earlier in the week that discussions are being held with a number of clubs regarding Watson.

Queens Park Rangers have been long-time admirers of Watson, but Birmingham are also showing an interest in the 23-year-old.

Eagles boss Warnock confirmed there have been bids for the home-grown talent, but Palace’s valuation has yet to be matched.

He said: “We’ve offered Ben the biggest contract at the club at the moment but he and his agent have made it clear they won’t sign.

“QPR and Birmingham have made good offers but they are short of our valuation. We’ll have to wait and see what happens in the next few weeks.”

One player likely to be on his way out of St Andrews is defender Franck Queudrue, who has been slapped on the transfer list by furious Blues boss Alex McLeish.

Queudrue infuriated McLeish last week by not returning to pre-season training on time and was fined two weeks’ wages.

The ex-Fulham defender will be allowed to leave after being kept at home during Blues’ tour of Austria.

Queudrue has had a nightmare at St. Andrew’s and was branded a “pile of rubbish” by chairman David Sullivan at the end of last season.

Blues could also lose another defender, with Fulham believed to be edging close to signing Stephen Kelly. He was an ever-present during Blues’ doomed campaign last season.