League One newcomers Birmingham City have not been afraid of competing with Championship, or even Premier League clubs for top signings this summer. However, their pursuit of one player may now come unstuck.
The Blues have already spent big this window, adding League One’s top goal scorer Alfie May and arguably one of the third tier’s most creative players from last season Marc Leonard. They have also raided Europe for top talents such as Willum Willumsson and Emil Hansson amongst others.
Now, two games into the season (one league, one cup), the former Championship side have recorded a draw on the opening day and a victory over fellow League One side Charlton Athletic in the EFL Cup first round.
Have Birmingham City missed the boat on their Player of the Year?
The player arguably at the top of Blues’ fans wish lists this summer after a successful spell at the club last term, was Jay Stansfield. The player won numerous player-of-the-year awards at the club’s annual award ceremony and instilled himself as a fan favourite.
His return appeared to be an ambitious dream following the club’s relegation. The player performed well in the second tier, so his parent club Fulham would likely either want him to return to the Championship or stay with them in the topflight. Numerous Championship clubs were reportedly interested in taking him on loan, including Stoke City, however, it would appear that the player is set to remain with the Premier League club at least for the first half of the 24/25 season.
What’s been said?
When asked about the Stansfield situation this summer, Fulham boss Marco Silva (quotes via the Mirror) was clear that he wanted him to stay:
“He’s going to be a player for Fulham and there’s nothing more to say. We can keep receiving approaches but our idea is to keep him and we are going to keep him in our squad.”
What does this mean for Birmingham City?
The deal is now extremely unlikely, for a manager to say that a player is staying, then to sell him is a bad look and would most likely undermine his authority with fans. It is suggested in the report that Birmingham’s sporting director Craig Gardner has moved onto other targets, which is perhaps the most sensible option in the situation. A deal the League One giants were perhaps confident of being able to do earlier in the window has unfortunately taken a twist for the worse, all but ending their hopes.