Birmingham City were an absolute joy to behold at the very top of League One last season.
Chris Davies’ rampant Blues would only lose three of their 46 league fixtures, leading to a colossal 111-point total being reached, with standout figures such as Jay Stansfield very much raising the excitement levels with a bumper 19 strikes tallied up in third-tier action.
Come the end of their very enjoyable League One marathon, Birmingham would go on to accumulate a mightily impressive 84 goals.
They won’t be receding into their shell when heading back up to the Championship, with plenty of fresh strikers now being linked to make the switch to St. Andrew’s to boost their already frightening firepower, which includes a promising Premier League-bound talent.
Birmingham monitoring situation of £10m striker
According to a report from GIVEMESPORT, the super-confident Blues are now monitoring the situation of Leeds United striker Mateo Joseph.
GIVEMESPORT states that Birmingham have been interested in the Spanish hotshot for some time now, with Davies’ men potentially seeing this opening in the summer transfer window as the perfect opportunity to strike up a deal.
RC Strasbourg are also noted as an interested party- on top of a January £10m bid from Real Betis being mentioned – but Birmingham have successfully flexed their muscles recently to win a similarly expensive striker from a Premier League side.
Of course, Stansfield cost £15m to pick up from Marco Silva’s Fulham last summer, with everyone at St. Andrew’s hopeful that Joseph can go down as an unbelievable success story much like the former Cottagers forward.
How Joseph can be Stansfield 2.0
It was somewhat of a gamble to fork out £15m for Stansfield’s services, considering the electric number 28 only had 21 strikes next to his name in senior action in the EFL before confirming a permanent Birmingham stay.
Now, that lavish fee doesn’t look too steep, with Stansfield an integral part of the Blues’ promotion story.
When moving up a division, Birmingham will be keeping their fingers crossed that Joseph can play an equal starring role, but this time around he could be the exact figure they desire in helping Davies’ men consolidate themselves as a Championship-worthy outfit.
After all, despite fading into the background at times last season under Daniel Farke’s wing, Joseph would still chip in with three goals and three assists in league action. This is a more than respectable return when you weigh up the fact that the 21-year-old only started 11 Championship contests.
With Leeds now in the big time, Joseph will be worrying that his first-team opportunities will become even more sparse. Therefore, a move to St. Andrew’s could be just what the Spain U21 international needs to kick on as he aims to follow in the footsteps of Stansfield, a fellow young striker who was also on the periphery of his then employers, Fulham, before finally becoming a main striker option in the West Midlands.
Leeds
73
6
3
Leeds U21s
33
19
3
Leeds U18s
4
1
1
Spain U21s
11
8
0
Sourced by Transfermarkt
That was the case even as Stansfield scored a blistering 38 goals for both the Fulham U18s and U21s combined, with Joseph not that far behind on a healthy total of 20 on the youth pitches at Thorp Arch, away from also hammering home six strikes in the senior ranks.
Staggeringly, Stansfield would only ever reach two senior goals at Craven Cottage, but all of that is firmly at the back of his mind now as Birmingham’s leading star.
The “dynamite” Leeds forward – as he was once glowingly labelled by U23 scout Antonio Mango – will want to be held in the same high esteem soon, rather than fighting it out for scraps at Elland Road.
Therefore, another statement striker deal could soon be on the cards at St. Andrew’s, as Joseph possibly joins and fires in the goals to make Birmingham’s transition to Championship life as smooth as possible.
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