Peterborough United can have a free shot at a £33 million Birmingham City squad
But the report was inaccurate. The budget was much bigger. City spent around £33 million on 13 new players according to football industry website transfermarkt, plus loan fees on four others who wouldn’t normally expect to be playing in the third tier.
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Hide AdNo wonder The Blues are the hottest League One title favourites in history, although Posh can therefore take a 'nothing to lose’ approach to St Andrew’s this Saturday.
Birmingham smashed the English third tier transfer record by over £13 million when persuading exciting Fulham forward Jay Stansfield to drop down two divisions. The 21 year-old scored 13 goals for the Midlanders in their 2023-24 relegation season from the Championship.
Birmingham also spent over £4 million on overseas players Cristoph Klarer (Germany) and Willum Willumsson (Iceland) and more than £1 million on four other players, Emil Hansson, Lyndon Dykes, Alex Cochrane and Japanese star Ayumu Yokoyama. The latter’s countryman Tomoki Iwata didn’t cost a lot less when moving South from Scottish champions Celtic.
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Hide AdA ‘no expense spared’ approach has even stretched to £980k on goalkeeper Ryan Allsopp who has sat on the bench in League One matches as Northern Ireland international goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell, a snip at £530k, has been preferred.
Others to arrive at St Andrew’s in the summer included reigning League One Golden Boot winner Alfie May (£915k from Charlton) – a player who was introduced into the Football League by Darren Ferguson when he was managing Doncaster – and Marc Leonard (£560k from Brighton) a midfielder who spent last season on loan at Cobblers.
In contrast Posh could field a starting XI at St Andrews on Saturday which cost £3.5 million, a decent sum for the division, but about a fifth of what Birmingham apparently paid for Stansfield!
Jed Steer – Free
Sam Curtis – Loan
Jack Sparkes – £300k
Oscar Wallin – £150k
Jadel Katongo – Loan
Archie Collins – £900k
Hector Kyprianou – £450k
Joel Randall – £1 million
Kwame Poku – £500k
Malik Mothersille – Free
Abraham Odoh – £200k.
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Hide AdPosh did spend £500k on left-back Rio Adebisi in the summer, but injury will keep him out until November.
They also spent approximately £300k on young centre-back George Nevett who has yet to break into the Posh first team.
Current attacking midfielder Joel Randall is one of five players purchased by Posh in the club’s history who cost over £1 million. Mo Eisa is the club record purchase at £1.3 million from Bristol City.
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Hide AdPre-Stansfield the record transfer fee paid by a League One club was the £4 million forked out by Sunderland for Wigan Athletic centre forward Will Grigg in 2019.
According to transfermarkt Birmingham City’s previous record signing had been striker Emile Heskey from Liverpool for £9 million in 2004.
These days transfer fees are usually undisclosed, so the above numbers should be treated as ‘ball-park’ figures.