Chris Davies has welcomed a clutch of Birmingham City’s kids into the first team fold for pre-season
Zaid Betteka of Birmingham City
It has arguably never been more difficult to jump from Birmingham City’s academy to the first team.
Blues have invested heavily in the last two summers with the aim of securing back-to-back promotions to the Premier League.
Part one was completed in record-breaking fashion last season and Chris Davies didn’t lean on the academy whilst Blues were in League One.
Zaid Betteka, 18, was the only academy product Davies gave a debut to in 2024/25 and the club’s return to the Championship has made it more difficult for others to break through.
Betteka has again impressed Davies in pre-season with promising showings against Sevilla and Solihull Moors, but he still sits outside the first team picture.
Briar Bateman, who at 17 was the youngest player included on Blues’ pre-season camp in Portugal, and fellow forward Daniel Isichei have also caught Davies’ eye.
The Blues manager doesn’t envisage any of the aforementioned trio playing a part in the club’s first team this coming season though.
“It’s a big jump,” he said. “We’re only moving to Category One status this season so there’s a big future for the club and we will develop and improve the quality of our young players in the next several years, almost definitely because we’re moving to Category One.
“Last season Zaid was the only one I gave a debut to when he came on against Lincoln in the FA Cup and I think Zaid has developed really well. He did well against Sevilla and you see him again (against Solihull Moors).
“Daniel has done really well. He did really well against Crewe as a left-winger. Briar as well. They are players I do believe in and I think they’ve got the quality, ability and the speed but they are very much in that development phase.
“We’re thinking about their pathway for this season; is it the right loan or is it playing with the 21s and training with me and the first team as much as possible?
“I wouldn’t say there’s any of them that we think are going to be part of our first team squad this season but I feel like it’s coming. I would say there’s a closer connection between them and the first team than I felt last year, which is encouraging.
“They know what I want a Birmingham City player to do. I think we’ve got a few that are getting closer.”
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