Birmingham City’s spending tendencies have been well chronicled, with the club adding a remarkable 17 new players this summer.
Jay Stansfield, an ex-Fulham striker, joined the Blues permanently after a successful loan spell in the Championship. The move cost an eye-watering £20 million.
The 21-year-old attacker has previously scored against Wrexham and Rotherham United in League One, demonstrating his potency.
Stansfield’s form this season
Stansfield has three strikes in the third tier, including a double on his League One debut with the Blues against Phil Parkinson’s Red Dragons.
The much-talked-about kid then followed up his superb performance at St. Andrew’s with another standout performance away at the Millers, as the electric Blues number 28 looped an effort over the Rotherham goalkeeper’s head in the first half to put his team up for a comfortable 2-0 victory.
The pricey summer signing will hope to maintain this high level of play throughout the season, while Birmingham also hopes to make their stint in League One as short as possible by gaining promotion back to the Championship right away.
While the ambitious Blues appear to have nailed the purchase of Stansfield, they haven’t always reaped the benefits of every deal that has gone through, with this striker entering with a high reputation in 2021 but underwhelming.
Scott Hogan’s transfer to Birmingham
In 2017, Birmingham’s rivals Aston Villa paid £12 million for Scott Hogan, who was known for his goal-scoring ability at Brentford.
Hogan scored 21 goals in 36 games for the Bees before moving to Villa Park. However, he struggled in his new environment, scoring only ten goals in 61 appearances. He subsequently made the contentious move to St. Andrew’s.
| Hogan’s goal record at Birmingham | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Games | Goals | Assists |
| 23/24 | 28 | 1 | 2 |
| 22/23 | 40 | 10 | 2 |
| 21/22 | 37 | 10 | 1 |
| 20/21 | 34 | 7 | 0 |
| 19/20 | 18 | 7 | 1 |
| Sourced by Transfermarkt | |||
Hogan was never able to rediscover his Brentford best at Birmingham, and another move did not go as planned for the now 32-year-old striker, who suffered last season as the Blues were relegated to League One.
Despite only scoring three goals in the second division season, Stansfield outscored him with 12 league goals in 43 games.
Despite being touted as a statement signing, Hogan only scored 36 goals in 158 games, falling short of expectations.
With Birmingham taking a different approach this summer with extravagant buy after lavish acquisition, Hogan’s contract would be terminated in the West Midlands, leaving the experienced EFL presence unemployed and looking for a new club to call home.
He did enjoy many magical moments in a Birmingham shirt, but there was no room for emotion on the part of Davies’ men this summer, as the Blues intend to make promotion back to the second tier appear easy with Stansfield up top.
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