Birmingham City have found their return to Championship life to be comfortable so far.
Unlike fellow promoted new side Wrexham, who have already been made well aware of the jump-up in quality, Chris Davies’ Blues look ready for the challenge ahead of the 46-game marathon, having recently fought back dramatically to win 2-1 at Blackburn Rovers.
Having also just been acknowledged at the PFA Awards with seven members of the Birmingham first team squad in League One Team of the Year, everything appears to be rosy currently at St. Andrew’s.
That’s the case even after rumours linking the Blues to an audacious move for Aleksandar Mitrovic were rubbished, with the temporary thought of Mitrovic leading the line for another Championship side a terrifying prospect.
Birmingham’s rumoured interest in Mitrovic
There may well have been some weight behind Birmingham plotting a stunning move for the ex-Fulham attacker, considering they have forked out a notable £10m on Kyogo Furuhashi’s services in recent times.
However, landing the Serbian would have undoubtedly been the signing of the summer from the Blues’ perspective – away from the former Celtic man’s arrival on to the scene – when you assess his unbelievable goalscoring exploits in the EFL’s elite division previously.
In total, Mitrovic has managed to bag an insane 83 strikes from just 126 career appearances in the competitive league, with 43 of those coming during just one Championship season.
Of course, it wasn’t just Birmingham taking a look at Mitrovic in isolation, unfortunately, with Leeds United and Sunderland also named as other parties keen on snapping up the imposing centre-forward.
The Al-Hilal attacker wouldn’t be joining the Blues camp on a cheap deal, either, with reports suggesting that he had a £26m price-tag above his head, before you even factor in his wild £414k-per-week salary in the Saudi Pro League, as per Capology.
Therefore, it’s safe to assume – despite Journalist Alex Crook hinting on talkSPORT (17:55, 17th August) that it could have been a possibility – that Mitrovic leaving the luxuries of the Middle East behind for St. Andrew’s was always going to be far-fetched to pull off.
However, going back in for this former target does seem more realistic and a perfect way to get over this ambitious switch not happening.
Birmingham can forget Mitrovic by signing £13m star
For half of Mitrovic’s extortionate valuation, Birmingham could set their sights on this alternative figure up top instead, with Che Adams – who is worth £13m according to Football Transfers – tipped for a return to St Andrew’s.
As was reported earlier this month, the Championship newcomers still hold some interest in bringing their former striker back to the West Midlands, having been in the race for his signature earlier in the transfer window.
While he might not boast a 43-goal season at the unforgiving level, the Scotsman certainly knows how to find the back of the net with some venom in the EFL’s top league to be seen as an adequate move to go after, instead of landing a more expensive Mitrovic.
Indeed, Adams has managed to register a healthy 49 Championship strikes across his well-travelled career to date, with his last season at the punishing level seeing him bag a career-best 17 goals as his then employers Southampton soared up to the Premier League.
Adams’ career record
Club
Games
Goals + Assists
Southampton
191
48 + 21
Birmingham
123
38 + 13
Sheffield United
55
15 + 5
Torino
39
10 + 4
Sourced by Transfermarkt
This will surely pique Birmingham’s interest as they try to make the best possible moves to ensure back-to-back promotions occur, with the 29-year-old proving himself to be a reliable goal machine wherever he’s been across his playing days so far. Indeed, ex-Torino manager Paolo Vanoli hailed him as “perfect” for the Serie A side’s system when powering home ten strikes from 39 clashes in Italy.
Rather than Mitrovic ditching the Saudi Pro League for a chance back in England, therefore, it could soon be Adams tempted by a second chance at glory with his ex-side.
In an ideal world, Birmingham might well have shown more purpose as they attempted to bring Mitrovic into the building on a statement deal.
But, any potential lost move for the ex-Championship menace irking Birmingham will be swept under the carpet if Adams joins Davies’ camp last minute, especially if he powers home more crucial second-tier strikes to add another promotion up to the Premier League on his resume.