Birmingham City Eye Swoop For One-Time Sunderland Target

Birmingham City have opened talks with Fulham over Jay Stansfield, potentially pipping a host of Championship clubs to his signature.

Football Insider reports that the ambitious Blues, which have been in the third tier for the first time since 1995, are keen on bringing the striker back to St Andrews. He spent last season on loan with them, scoring 13 and assisting three times as they were relegated.

It’s believed the fee could be an eye-watering £6 million, smashing the transfer record in the division and dwarfing the entire budget of many of the clubs the Blues will face this season.

Stansfield is a product of the Fulham academy, joining from Exeter City in 2021. He is contracted until 2027 but has only represented the Cottagers eight times since his debut.

He returned to the Grecians on loan in 2022-23, the club his father Adam represented before his tragic passing, before making the short-term move to St Andrew’s in the summer of 2023. Rather ironically, he has only scored once for Fulham—bagging in the 26th minute of their EFL Cup tie against Birmingham in August 2021.

The Blues have been busy this summer, signing Christoph Klarer, Willum Thór Willumsson, Emil Hansson, Alex Cochrane, Ryan Allsop, Alfie May, Bailey Peacock-Farrell, and Bradley Mayo. According to Transfermarkt, their outlay is around £11.5 million.

However, they do face competition for the player. Sunderland are perhaps the biggest club thought to be in the hunt, and they can offer Championship football.

Site Opinion

Spending is not the primary way to get out of League One. Birmingham fans are positive their big outlays will give them the edge this season, but as the likes of Sunderland can attest, you need so much more than good players.

There’s no doubt Birmingham are acting like the biggest club to have passed through the division, but £6 million on a striker for League One is outrageous.

It would also be outrageous if the player opted to follow the money, rather than a better footballing challenge at a level he’s already proven, the Championship.