New Birmingham City manager Chris Davies has confirmed the club’s interest in former loanee Jay Stanfield following reports of his impending return to St Andrew’s.
Stansfield was Birmingham’s top scorer last season, scoring 13 goals and chipping in with three assists in all competitions. The Fulham star had become a fan favourite with both the Blues and Exeter City, scoring 22 goals and registering 11 assists across his spells at the two clubs whilst out on loan.
According to The Telegraph, both Fulham and Birmingham are in discussions over a potential £6 million deal for the 21-year-old which would smash the League One transfer record currently held by Sunderland after striker Will Grigg joined the Black Cats for £3 million back in 2019.
The Cottagers have seemingly made a complete U-turn, with current manager Marco Silva speaking highly of the homegrown striker, even hinting Stansfield would play a part in next season’s Premier League Campaign. Speaking earlier in the summer, Silva said [quotes via The Standard]:
“Now is the moment for him to come back and be one of the players in our attacking line for next season.”
Birmingham City have certainly splashed the cash this summer as they look to bounce back from the disappointment of relegation down to the third tier. Players such as Alfie May, Marc Leonard, Christoph Klarer and Willum Thór-Willumsson have joined for substantial amounts of money so far, but the Blues don’t look like they are stopping there.
Davies, speaking at the open training session at the club’s Elite Performance and Innovation Centre, had this to say about a potential deal for Stansfield:
“There’s always a chance.
“He’s a player that won all the awards last year and when I analysed the team before I came in he was the stand-out player. He’s gone back to a really good Premier League club that obviously value him highly and they have their own plans and their own ambitions.
“If he became available and we could do it, it would be something that would be really exciting for everyone. But everyone knows it will be a challenge to do that.”
Writer’s View
Birmingham City are taking a substantial financial risk and going all out for promotion this season. Not achieving promotion at the first time of asking could lead to a financial crisis and land them in all sorts of trouble. It’s no surprise the Blues are expected to steamroll League One in the forthcoming campaign and this is made clear by their transfer business so far.
For Stansfield, the question will be whether or not he wants to drop down to League One level, although it does seem that the Blues stay in the third tier will be temporary. With reported interest from Championship teams such as Sunderland, Hull City and Cardiff, as well as Fulham boss Silva’s admiration for the young striker, Stansfield has a lot of options available to him regarding his future.
