After earning promotion back to the Championship at the first time of asking, Birmingham City reportedly mean business ahead of what will be a crucial summer transfer window.
Birmingham emphatically return to the Championship
When the Blues were in a position to spend as much as £20m to sign Jay Stansfield last summer, promotion became a must for all involved at St Andrew’s. And to their credit, promotion is exactly what came next. The Blues dominantly raced to the top of the tree, breaking the League One points record by reaching the 108 mark with one more game left to play.
Expressing his delight after breaking such a record, manager Chris Davies told reporters: “For all the people that thought it was going to be easy for Birmingham, you can never take away from this group of players what they’ve done.
“They’ve achieved history and I’ve said to them I don’t think that’ll ever be beaten. To beat Wolves’ record and get 105 points in a season is an incredible achievement. Full credit to everyone, players and staff for what they’ve done. They’ve given so much and they deserve to have an occasion like this.”
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1 ByCharlie Smith
Now, with the Championship awaiting, Birmingham will be looking to take things to another level under the ownership of Tom Wagner, which could yet result in more than just survival next season.
The Birmingham chairman took the opportunity to promise those at St Andrew’s that this is just the start of the history created during his tenure, telling fans amid the Blues’ recent title celebrations: “I just want to say a big thank you to all of the supporters.
“We don’t forget that this is your club and it’s an honour to be a Blue. I promise you that this is not the best day that we will enjoy together. It’s not even close.”
Exciting Birmingham transfer plan emerges
According to Sky Sports’ Rob Dorsett, Birmingham are likely to be targeting similar players to Leicester City, Southampton and Ipswich Town this summer, despite only just earning promotion from League One.
It would be a major statement of intent to compete with the three relegated Premier League sides, but as they showed when they splashed out to sign Stansfield last summer, Birmingham certainly have the resources.
Just who arrives is the big question, as rumours begin to emerge. A move to St Andrew’s is no longer one which comes with the fear of relegation – it’s one which should come with excitement over a project that is still in its early days yet already proving to be a success, perhaps even following the tracks of Ipswich last term.
Alongside Wrexham, Birmingham could shake things up in the summer transfer window in the Championship. In previous campaigns, it’s been the relegated sides at the forefront of the big moves, but under rich ownerships, the two promoted teams are reportedly likely to go head-to-head with those at the very top of England’s second tier.
