Birmingham City haven’t quite started their new League One season as the dominant force some might expect, with a mediocre 1-1 home draw against Reading secured on the opening day, followed up with a slender 3-2 win over Wycombe Wanderers on their travels.
Chris Davies’ Blues did dominate the ball at 74% possession versus the Chairboys, and did muster up 13 shots to the home side’s eight, but it was still an unnecessarily nervy victory come full-time.
The former Tottenham Hotspur assistant manager turned main man in the St. Andrews dug-out would have been pleased with Alfie May’s efforts up top though, who has now scored in back-to-back clashes the league, after signing from Charlton Athletic in the summer.
Winning the third tier golden boot last campaign with the Addicks, his starting spot could be amazingly less concrete, if this statement purchase ends up joining.
Birmingham’s search for a striker
As reported by Birmingham Live over the weekend, it is looking increasingly unlikely that Birmingham will be able to re-sign former loan star Jay Stansfield this summer, to boost their already impressive attacking arsenal.
Marco Silva has confirmed that Stansfield will get more chances to impress at Fulham instead, despite the fact there have been many approaches for his services from all across the EFL, including the Blues.
Birmingham will continue to try and tempt Fulham into allowing Stansfield to return back to St. Andrews, however, with the Mirror stating that the money-rich Blues haven’t ‘drawn a line under their interest.’
The electric 21-year-old was a breath of fresh air up top for the West Midlands side last campaign, even as a disastrous relegation was served up, and he could soon be another entertaining attacking option for Davies to rely on, over the likes of an ageing Lukas Jutkiewicz.
What Stansfield can offer Birmingham
Birmingham fans will be well aware of Stansfield’s prowess in front of goal, with 13 strikes managed from 47 games last season leading the line, which included the strike above against a now Premier League Southampton outfit.
The Cottagers youngster is also used to dropping down to League One too, when it comes to finding the net on a regular basis, having tallied up nine goals and eight assists from 38 games playing for Exeter City in the third tier, the campaign before his breakout moment with the Blues.
| Stansfield’s goal record – youth/senior level | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Club played for | Games played | Goals scored | Assists |
| Birmingham | 47 | 13 | 3 |
| Exeter | 39 | 9 | 8 |
| Fulham (senior) | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| Fulham U21 | 22 | 7 | 3 |
| Fulham U18 | 27 | 31 | 4 |
| Sourced by Transfermarkt | |||
As can be seen above, the 21-year-old has been a notorious goal machine across his youth and senior career to date, with one of his former Exeter teammates in Kevin McDonald even describing the Fulham number 28 as a striker who has “got it all”.
Therefore, it isn’t a shock to see Silva’s men attempting to bed him into their Premier League set-up, hoping he can become a top homegrown talent in the men’s team over time.
Jutkiewicz will be nervously sweating about the prospect of Stansfield’s return though, knowing he could be bumped down Davies’ pecking order for the fresh talent to come back in.
The Blues stalwart is a legend in St. Andrew’s quarters, having amassed a staggering 333 appearances for the West Midlands club now, but his minutes in the here and now would only further dry up if Stansfield was to rejoin.
The EFL veteran has averaged just 15 minutes of action from off the bench in league action to date, with only two duels won from eight versus Wycombe, as his powers start to visibly wane.
Birmingham will want to take the third tier by storm this season, and would only get into their groove even more, if the statement purchase of Stansfield was pulled off.