Sport
Sutton Slams: Birmingham’s Biggest Transfer Bombs
The 2024 summer transfer window was of course, a rather incredible one for Birmingham City.
By the time the market closed, the Blues had added no fewer than 17 new players to their first-team squad.
That included smashing the League One transfer record to bring Jay Stansfield back to St Andrew’s on a permanent deal, after his spell on loan from Fulham last season.
Having been relegated from the Championship to League One at the end of last season, the Blues will be hoping those signings can help them secure an immediate return to the second-tier.
However, it is worth noting that not every signing the club have made in recent times has always worked out.
With that in mind, we’ve taken a look at the five biggest Birmingham City transfer flops since the year 2000, right here.
Chris Sutton
Having previously won top-flight titles in England and Scotland with Blackburn Rovers and Celtic respectively, Chris Sutton had plenty of pedigree when he arrived at St Andrew’s in January 2006.
By this time though, he was approaching the end of his playing career, with injuries limiting his game time for the Blues, while he also struggled when he did get on the pitch.
The one-time England international scored just once in 11 appearances for Birmingham, and was criticised by then owner David Sullivan for his lack of contribution while on such a high wage.
Not surprisingly therefore, he would depart the club in the summer of 2006, having been unable to prevent them suffering relegation from the Premier League to the Championship.
Nicolai Brock-Madsen
It was reported that the Blues could have paid up to £1million for the signing of Nicolai Brock-Madsen back in the summer of 2015.
The striker joined from Randers in his native Denmark, but never had any sort of impact during his time in England.
During his first season with Birmingham, Brock-Madsen made just eight appearances, scoring no goals.
Though he remained on the club’s books for three more years, he never played for them again, and after several spells out on loan, had his contract terminated by mutual consent in January 2019.
| Nicolai Brock-Madsen senior club career record – stats from Transfermarkt | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Club | Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| Randers | 138 | 20 | 7 |
| Birmingham City | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| PEC Zwolle | 25 | 10 | 1 |
| Cracovia | 11 | 1 | 0 |
| St Mirren | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| AC Horsens | 54 | 6 | 2 |
| FC Frederica | 4 | 1 | 0 |
Bernard Sun
A bizarre signing, Bernard Sun was brought to Birmingham in September 2019, signing a two-year contract at St Andrew’s.
The Chinese midfielder joined having been playing in the fourth-tier of Spanish football, and that was arguably reflected in the way his career with the Blues panned out.
In the end, Sun failed to make a single competitive appearance for the club, before being released when his contract expired in 2021, leaving many to no doubt question the purpose of this deal.
Indeed, after leaving St Andrew’s, the midfielder spent a brief period in the German leagues, but has been without an elite club since 2022, despite still only being 25-years-old.
When he joined Birmingham on loan late in the 2014 January transfer window, there may have been some expectation on Tyler Blackett.
He certainly had pedigree after coming through the youth ranks at parent club Manchester United, and already had Championship experience from a loan spell at Blackpool earlier that season.
However, things did not really work out for the defender at St Andrew’s, he made only eight appearances for the Blues, and in that time managed to concede two penalties.
At the end of that season he would return to Old Trafford, having seen the Blues only narrowly avoid relegation from the Championship during his time with the club.
Ferdinand Coly
Back in early 2003, Birmingham looked to have pulled off an eye-catching signing with the loan addition of Ferdinand Coly.
The full-back had been part of some impressive campaigns in France with Lens, and was an ever-present in the Senegal squad that produced a stunning run to the World Cup quarter-final in 2002.
However, he was handed two starts within a week of joining the Blues, but struggled badly in heavy defeats to Fulham and Arsenal in the FA Cup and Premier League.
Coly never played for Birmingham again, and would depart that summer when an agreement to let him train with the club once his loan spell had ended was mutually terminated.
