Birmingham City’s summer spending has now officially kicked into gear.
A spree of new signings at St. Andrew’s has finally gone through after plenty of heated transfer conversation, with Demarai Gray and Bright Osayi-Samuel both joining on free transfers, alongside James Beadle and Tommy Doyle entering the building on loan.
The pick of the bunch, however, was reportedly splashing out £10m to land former Celtic star Kyogo Furuhashi from Rennes.
Still, there will be plenty of intrigue from Birmingham fans about the number of other signings made in quick succession away from just their new Japanese ace, with lots expected from Wolverhampton Wanderers loanee Doyle in particular, who has excelled near the top of the Championship previously.
Why Doyle is an exciting signing for Birmingham
Indeed, Doyle – whilst he has found the Premier League to be his more recent permanent home with Wolves – has lit up the second tier regularly when competing there.
Playing for both Cardiff City and Sheffield United on loan, Doyle would let loose with an impressive tally of five goals and seven assists coming his way from 57 Championship outings, which included a fine free-kick being floated home to help the Blades in their pursuit of promotion during the 2022/23 campaign.
His standout Bluebirds loan stint would even see scout Jacek Kulig brand the 23-year-old as “superb” as the ex-Manchester City youth product now looks to dust himself down after an up-and-down patch of his Old Gold career to try and get back to his second-tier peak with Davies and Co.
He might well be joined by some additional competition very soon if rumours are to be believed, as Birmingham’s busy summer activity shows no signs of relenting.
Birmingham could sign another "special" star
All competition for places will be seen as healthy next season, with Davies wanting the best possible squad he can to ruffle some Championship feathers.
Landing the services of Lewis O’Brien would be viewed as a statement in the middle of the park for sure, with journalist Darren Witcoop revealing, whilst writing for TEAMTalk last week, that the ambitious Blues still are keen on adding the wantaway Nottingham Forest man to their ranks, even with Doyle now at their disposal.
A deal would have to be won right from under Wrexham’s nose, with reports suggesting that the Red Dragons had agreed a £5m fee for the ex-Huddersfield Town man’s signature, only for wages to be an unfortunate stumbling block.
This unforeseen hurdle for Phil Parkinson’s men could see Birmingham come out on top for the seasoned Championship professional instead, with O’Brien even more of a well-versed presence than Doyle as to what it takes to become a top battler in such a difficult and taxing division.
Games
38
42
43
23
16
Goals
2
3
3
0
1
Assists
4
3
3
1
0
Touches*
50.6
58.0
56.7
54.8
56.6
Accurate passes*
24.4 (77%)
30.8 (77%)
29.5 (78%)
36.8 (87%)
30.1 (76%)
Big chances created
5
6
4
2
2
Tackles*
3.2
2.0
2.2
1.7
1.9
Total duels won*
6.1
5.8
7.5
4.0
6.1
Looking at the table above, it’s clear that the Forest outcast excels when plying his trade in the Championship as a well-rounded presence in the middle, with O’Brien desperate to get back to his Terriers best if he dons Birmingham blue shortly, as seen in him winning an imperious 7.5 duels on per Championship clash during Huddersfield’s promotion near-miss during the 2021/22 season.
Like Doyle, he has the goals and assists to back up his tenaciousness, with 20 goal contributions and counting next to his name at the daunting level. His midfield counterpart can only boast 12, on the contrary.
Once even hailed as a “special” player by his former Huddersfield boss in Carlos Corberan, this might well be the signing that makes those tipping Birmingham for greatness more secure in the fact they can challenge for those promotion spots, as Davies aims to deliver back-to-back promotions to please the St. Andrew’s masses even more.
Even more exciting than Kyogo: Birmingham City set to sign "silky dribbler"
Birmingham City are reportedly closing in on a deal to sign a star who is even more exciting than Kyogo Furuhashi.
2 ByDan EmeryJul 5, 2025
