Birmingham City aren’t a big fish in a small pond anymore in League One, but the Blues are still acting with plenty of swagger and confidence when it comes to summer moves in the Championship.
Birmingham have already secured the services of seven fresh faces to significantly bolster their squad for the difficult challenge of the Championship, with purchases such as Demarai Gray sticking out as the West Midlands-born winger finally returns home after a Premier League-heavy career elsewhere.
Whilst that move has obviously pulled at the heartstrings of Blues supporters, it does go without saying that the most ambitious pick-up of them all this summer has been securing Kyogo Furuhashi’s signature for a bumper £10m.
Come the end of the breakneck window, Birmingham might even be able to boast an entirely new starting lineup of players just off exciting incomings alone.
With that in mind, if Birmingham do keep up this whirlwind pace, here is what their dream squad could look like come the end of an action-packed summer.
The goalkeepers
New number one in the Championship
Despite resoundingly cruising to the League One title last season with only 31 goals conceded, the step-up could see Birmingham change up their number one option in between the sticks.
Indeed, brand-new loanee James Beadle could be the fresh face that usurps last season’s trusty goalkeeper Ryan Allsop on his arrival, with Beadle just fresh off collecting nine clean sheets for Sheffield Wednesday in the challenging division.
The 20-year-old looks to be a star on the rise, having also just played his part in the England U21s lifting the U21 Euros title, with Allsop unfortunately becoming yesterday’s news, consequently.
The Birmingham-born stopper will ensure he’s a reliable back-up pair of gloves even if Beadle does take over first-team duties, with a mammoth 151 career Championship games under his belt seen as a major bonus to keep him around.
Full list of goalkeepers: James Beadle, Ryan Allsop, Bailey Peacock-Farrell
The defenders
Fan favourite back for a second spell
Again, Birmingham fans will be content with the majority of defenders already positioned at the club, especially when it comes to the dominant centre-back areas.
Still, if you can enhance the personnel at your disposal for cheap, the Blues aren’t going to pass up the opportunity, with Bright Osayi-Samuel now a new option Davies can call into action in the right-back spot.
This could go down as being an inspired signing on a free transfer, with Osayi-Samuel boasting 109 Championship appearances for both Queens Park Rangers and Blackpool, before going on to enhance his craft more on the books of Fenerbahce. He could also slot into any upcoming XI as a right winger, left winger, or even as a centre-forward if needed.
He will likely battle it out with ex-Manchester United defender Ethan Laird for that right-back spot – with Laird an attacking mainstay on the right flank last season – with Taylor Gardner-Hickman also acting as another adaptable presence that can do a job in defence on the right.
In the heart of defence as Christoph Klarer will aim to be a regular fixture of Davies’ lineups again, even as the quality of opposition gets trickier.
He will battle it out with Krystian Bielik and potentially Ben Davies if he returns to the club after a loan spell.
|
Davies’ league numbers for Birmingham (24/25) |
|
|---|---|
|
Stat (* = per game) |
Davies |
|
Games played |
35 |
|
Goals scored |
1 |
|
Assists |
1 |
|
Touches* |
88.6 |
|
Accurate passes* |
67.9 (88%) |
|
Ball recoveries* |
3.3 |
|
Clearances* |
6.2 |
|
Total duels won* |
6.3 |
|
Clean sheets |
20 |
|
Stats by Sofascore |
|
Phil Neumann is also another option at Davies’ disposal, up a division, with the success story of Klarer coming in from Germany as an unknown entity ready to leave a lasting impression, perhaps rubbing off on the ex-Hannover defender from the get-go.
In the left-back position, it does feel as if this is a spot nailed down by Alex Cochrane, having made a colossal 53 appearances across the 2024/25 campaign. Lee Buchanan will aim to offer competition, but this is Cochrane’s spot to solidify even more, moving up a division.
Full list of right-backs: Ethan Laird, Bright Osayi-Samuel, Taylor Gardner-Hickman
Full list of centre-backs: Christoph Klarer, Phil Neumann, Krystian Bielik, Ben Davies
Full list of left-backs: Alex Cochrane, Lee Buchanan
The midfielders
Tomoki Iwata joined by a new partner
Whilst Birmingham’s attacking firepower often stole the headlines last season, the Blues’ central midfield department was also a steady unit all season long.
The main central midfield pairing picked by Davies was Tomoki Iwata and Paik Seung-Ho, with the duo tallying up a sturdy 95 appearances in all competitions come the final ball being kicked.
Both stars consistently put in classy displays for their promotion-chasing team, with a wonderfully hit effort against Bolton Wanderers last October just one of the six league strikes Iwata would fire home for Davies’ men, whilst Seung-Ho would stylishly spray the ball about for fun from deep with eight big chances created across his 41 League One outings.
They could face competition from reported target Lewis O’Brien, on top of the already confirmed midfield addition of Tommy Doyle.
The Nottingham Forest outcast has been linked with a switch to St. Andrew’s, with his expertise in the taxing division perhaps coming in handy, having played 162 career games at this level.
Doyle would be able to offer something different away from O’Brien’s more attritional approach, with the ex-Manchester City youngster 12 goals and assists down in the taxing league, as seven of those come about during Sheffield United’s promotion-winning heroics during the 2022/23 season.
Marc Leonard will also hope some first-team chances come his way, even as the midfield department gets a slight makeover, off the back of the ex-Northampton Town man chipping in with a reasonable five assists last season.
Full list of midfielders: Tomoki Iwata, Lewis O’Brien, Paik Seung-Ho, Tommy Doyle, Marc Leonard
The forwards
“Phenomenal” striker joins alongside Kyogo
Lastly, the positions that always attract the most attention are the forward areas, with Birmingham already boasting a fine selection of attackers, away from any further summer activity.
Down the right, Davies will have Willum Thur Willumsson to call upon up a division after the Icelandic forward tallied up an impressive six goals and six assists in League One, whilst Scott Wright is also available on this flank, having collected just a solitary goal in league action himself as a background figure.
Therefore, whilst the Scotsman will no doubt be a fine utility figure for Davies to have around, he might well want a bit of extra competition on the right channel still, which is where long-term target Sontje Hansen might ruffle a few feathers if he finally makes the switch to St. Andrew’s.
The outrageous solo strike seen above already shows off what Hansen’s main strengths are, with the blistering pace of the Dutchman, mixed with his respectable haul of 20 goals and assists in the Dutch top-flight for NEC Nijmegen, solidifying the notion that he could be a lively menace capable of lighting up English football very soon.
Through the middle behind the lone striker is where Jay Stansfield could reside next season – with his league goal tally of 19 last season ready to be surpassed in the Championship – owing to the amount of top-notch strikers being added to the ranks, with Kanya Fujimoto another viable option in the number ten slot, having just joined Davies’ camp from Gil Vicente in Portugal.
There’s another new face who will be looking to leave his mark, but this time down the left wing in the form of Gray.
The homegrown ace will be chomping at the bit to add his Championship career haul of eight goals and three assists when making his much-talked-about return, knowing that lots of healthy competition will also come his way with both Keshi Anderson and Emil Hansson being positioned on this flank.
The final position in attack that needs plenty of discussion dedicated to it is the lone striker spot, with £10m man Furuhashi desperate to be Birmingham’s leading man.
After all, his clinical Celtic track record does speak for itself, with Furuhashi ending his trophy-laden spell in Glasgow by powering home a mighty 85 goals.
Not even EFL veteran Alfie May can compete with that, unfortunately, as the experienced striker is under threat from sliding down the pecking order for this forthcoming season, with his career tally overall coming in at 133 strikes, which isn’t that much heftier than his Japanese counterpart’s sole goal total in Scotland.
Yet, if Birmingham really want to send out a statement, they might well consider a final hour move for Premier League regular Danny Ings, with rumours suggesting a free transfer move was on the cards.
For nothing, the Blues would be able to win a “phenomenal” goal machine – as he was once glowingly labelled by football pundit Noel Whelan – as seen in his 72 strikes right at the pinnacle of the English game.
Full list of right wingers: Willum Thor Willumsson, Scott Wright, Sontje Hansen
Full list of attacking midfielders: Jay Stansfield, Kanya Fujimoto
Full list of left wingers: Demarai Gray, Keshi Anderson, Emil Hansson
Full list of strikers: Kyogo Furuhashi, Danny Ings, Alfie May
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