Birmingham City are reportedly beating Championship rivals Swansea City and Hull City in the race for La Liga striker Oli McBurnie.
The 29 year old is set to leave La Liga side Las Palmas after relegation from the Spanish top flight. The Blues are rumoured to be keen on securing the services of the striker ahead of their Championship rivals.
Who is Oli McBurnie?
The Sheffield born attacker started his career in Leeds United and Bradford City’s academy. McBurnie made his debut for the Bantams in 2013 before going on to make 19 appearances for the Yorkshire side.
After moving to Swansea City in 2015, the 29 year old had loan spells with Newport County, Bristol Rovers and Barnsley. The striker’s loan spells allowed him to cement a spot in Swansea’s first team and he impressed, with 22 goals in 44 Championship appearances during the 2018-19 season.
His impressive season for the Swans caught the eye of Sheffield United who signed McBurnie in 2019. After 29 goals in five seasons with the Blades, the 29 year old moved to La Liga and joined Las Palmas.
After 11 goal involvements during his 35 appearances in Spain, the 29 year old is subject to interest from numerous Championship sides with League One title winners Birmingham City reportedly coming out on top with their offer for McBurnie.
What could Oli McBurnie bring to Birmingham City?
After promotion back to the second tier, Birmingham City will be looking to make an impact in the division. Signing McBurnie could provide them with the experience needed for this with the Scottish striker making 125 appearances at Championship level as well as a number of seasons in the Premier League.
Coupled with his experience is his goalscoring record in the division, with an average of a goal every 2.8 games across his 125 appearances. On top of this, in his most recent season in the Premier League, the 29 year old averaged a goal every 3.5 games for a Sheffield United side that finished 20th.
Looking at his most recent season in the Championship, it is clear that McBurnie could be a consistent goal threat for Birmingham City. The striker had an average of 3.44 shots with an average of 1.66 of these shots on target per 90 minutes.
One key attribute that McBurnie would bring to the League One Champions is his aerial threat. Over the course of the 2022-23 season, the 29 year old won an average of 6.6 aerial duels per 90 minutes and in the 2024-25 season for Las Palmas he won 91% more aerial duels compared with players in a similar position to McBurnie according to Fotmob’s player traits.
Would Oli McBurnie be a good signing for Birmingham City?
The Blues are likely to come into the Championship with the aim of repeating the feat of Ipswich Town’s back-to-back promotions to the Premier League. The possibility of signing McBurnie could be a good addition to a squad not short of attacking quality.
With Alfie May, Jay Stansfield and Lyndon Dykes part of Birmingham City’s squad, the addition of McBurnie could be a good addition to add competition to Chris Davies’ attacking options. The Las Palmas striker’s aerial threat would allow the League One winners to have a greater set piece threat having scored the 15th most in League One last season.
On top of this, Birmingham City won possession on average 4.6 times in the final third last season which was the best in the third tier. When looking at McBurnie’s last season in the Championship, he had a tackle success rate of 68.4% and won possession in the final third 1.01 times on average per match which would fit Birmingham City’s aim of winning possession back higher up the pitch.
McBurnie has been questioned for his ability to compete in the Premier League. Despite this, there is no doubting that with an average of 2.8 goals per game in the Championship the striker would be a good signing to add competition to the Birmingham City attack.