Birmingham City garnered a reputation for being big spenders during the summer, entering League One very much as a big fish in a small pond.
16 new faces would end up joining Chris Davies’ ever-growing camp, including one notable deal which saw Jay Stansfield return to St. Andrew’s for an eye-watering £20m, after he lit up the Championship for the Blues on loan even during their relegation woes.
But Birmingham’s history of lavish spending isn’t limited to this chapter; the West Midlands team was known for blowing budgets when they were still playing in the second division.
Sunjic’s transfer to Birmingham
Ivan Sunjic arrived at Birmingham as a major buy back in 2019, leaving behind his native Croatia for a new opportunity in England, costing the Blues a significant £6.3m fee in the process.
When Sunjic left five years later, this deal would ultimately seem like a waste of money. Although the former Dinamo Zagreb player occasionally displayed flashes of brilliance, he was always kept in check by playing for a Birmingham team that was always on the verge of dropping to League One.
Sunjic racked up more managers than goals at St. Andrew’s, having seen a staggering nine head coaches enter and exit the dug-out in the West Midlands during his 173-game spell with the club, registering seven goals and six assists along the way.
It’s fair to say, fast forwarding to the present day, the likes of Stansfield are more than justifying their obscene price-tag over the costly Croat, with the former Fulham ace having bagged three goals already in a Blues shirt on his return.
It would end up being a sorry end to Sunjic’s Birmingham career this summer, with the relegated outfit allowing the 27-year-old to leave the building on a free transfer, as Cypriot side Paphos gambled on the former £6.3m man’s services.
Davies’ men were likely just glad to get Sunjic off their books, as they began their mass overhaul of the squad in the busy transfer window, with the one-time Croatia senior international still worth way less than his previous high price, despite settling in well to his new surroundings so far.
That’s way off the £6.3m Birmingham splashed out on the midfielder in 2019, with a lot of regret now on the end of the third-tier giants that they ended up coughing up such an excessive amount.
Across the course of his Birmingham stay, Sunjic saw his value fall more and more, with the 27-year-old worth just £1.6m last October, before moving on for nothing recently.
There will be an annoyance on the end of Davies’ men that they couldn’t get a fee out of Sunjic when he did leave the building, but the absence of their former midfield dud hasn’t been felt whatsoever in the squad now, with Tomoki Iwata and Paik Seung-Ho striking up a formidable partnership in central midfield for the promotion chasers so far this campaign.
A call-up to the South Korean national team has even been granted to Seung-Ho, as the driven Blues aim for an instant return to the Championship.
Birmingham’s extravagant expenditure appears to be justified, at least for the time being, as opposed to throwing money at players like Sunjic, who are already forgotten about at St. Andrew’s quarters.
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