Birmingham City fans will now be counting down the days until their side kicks off their hotly anticipated Championship season.
Indeed, the Blues only have one friendly left until Ipswich Town come to St. Andrew’s for a Friday night kick-off to start the second-tier entertainment, before clashes against Blackburn Rovers, Oxford United, and Leicester City then round off a busy August for Chris Davies’ men in league action.
In bittersweet fashion, however, Lukas Jutkiewicz won’t be lining up for Davies’ side as they triumphantly return to the Championship, having confirmed his retirement right after Birmingham lifted the League One title.
It will be strange for die-hard supporters of the Blues not seeing Jutkiewicz line up for their beloved team in the EFL’s elite league, having often been viewed as the main marksman when Birmingham last regularly competed at the level.
How Jutkiewicz made himself a Birmingham legend
Birmingham’s previous Championship exploits haven’t always been rosy, but the 6-foot-1 striker remained as constant, even during those testing times.
The Blues will be entering back into the division hungry to compete near the top of the division, which will be some feat to pull off, considering Jutkiewicz’s days as the main source of goals at St. Andrew’s saw his lowly side be consistently plunged into a battle against the drop.
By the time the 36-year-old had called time on his playing days, the towering attacker had bagged a memorable 68 strikes for the Blues across 358 appearances, with 54 of those coming about in the notoriously punishing league.
Now, it will be up to a new face to be as impactful – away from Davies just relying on Kyogo Furuhashi and Jay Stansfield up top – with a fresh target on the Birmingham shopping list possessing the potential to become the club’s next iteration of their dominant number ten.
The “complete number 9” who could be their next Jutkiewicz
Arguably, Birmingham might not need to pursue the signature of another attacker, with both Kyogo and Stansfield sticking out as obvious choices to lead the line.
Yet, neither of those options will be able to throw themselves about with authority, which is where Blues target Bojan Miovski could come into his own if he makes the leap to join Birmingham shortly.
Coming in at a lofty 6-foot-2, Miovski is now seemingly one of the main targets Birmingham is casting their eye over to further enhance their striker personnel, with the ambitious Championship side currently in talks over a move to sign the lethal Macedonian at the expense of Celtic and Rangers, according to reports.
Whilst he has only managed to bag a middle-of-the-road four goals for Girona from 22 appearances in Spain, the 26-year-old more than proved himself when leading the line for Aberdeen that he is a worthwhile Jutkiewicz replacement in terms of his deadly finishing game when soaring into aerial duels, but also with the ball at his feet as a well-rounded presence.
Mivoski’s numbers for Aberdeen
Stat
Mivoski
Games played
98
Goals scored
44
Assists
7
Braces
8x
Fee sold for
£6.8m
Sourced by Transfermarkt
The 38-time North Macedonia international registered a blistering 44 strikes for the Dons across 98 appearances, with his ability to be powerful in the air, yet classy when running through on goal, earning him the title of being a “complete number nine” by journalist Josh Bunting.
He should, therefore, be ready for the pressures of the Championship, even if his £6.8m move out to Girona hasn’t gone completely to plan, knowing he has what it takes to be the “best centre forward in the league” in the Scottish Premiership, as he was also labelled by ex-Dons teammate Nick Devlin.
Sealing a deal for Miovski to join the building might not be as instantly eye-catching as Kyogo’s statement deal was.
But, he should be able to leave a lasting impact on the English game if he finds his Aberdeen mojo again as a battling, skilful striker built very much in the same mould as Jutkiewicz.
Related
Birmingham could sign a bigger talent than Cashin in “dynamite” £10m star
Birmingham City could soon win themselves a bigger talent than Eiran Cashin by landing this dynamite attacker.