£22m transfer has proved Birmingham City were right to take Jordan James stance

We’re now a matter of hours away from the closure of the January transfer window – and it’s looking increasingly likely that Jordan James will remain a Birmingham City player until at least the summer. The pursuit of James involving Serie A heavyweights Atalanta appears to be extinguishing, at least for this month. There has been no progress made in Atalanta’s attempts to prise Blues’ asset out of their grasp.

It’s not exactly hard to see why James is an attractive proposition for any ambitious club; having filled out into an athletically built midfielder having made his first-team breakthrough as a developing teenager, James has added goal contributions to his game and a level of quality to Blues’ midfield this term.

Then you must consider his international credentials, too; James stole the show in the Wales midfield against a fearsome trio of Mateo Kovacic, Marcelo Brozovic and Luka Modric back in October during a stunning win in Cardiff. He earned rave reviews from the Welsh support, who enjoyed his application in the face of quality, indeed world class, opposition.

At club level, James’ performances have stood up even when Blues themselves were struggling under Wayne Rooney; he delivered a crucial late winner against Sheffield Wednesday, and plundered a brace with two exquisite finishes against champions in waiting Leicester. James bagged again in style at Plymouth and then, like for Rooney, he produced on Tony Mowbray’s bow with a stoppage time equaliser against Swansea.

In short, James is operating at a different level this season and it’s quite understandably captured the attention of various clubs, Atalanta included. The transfer market can be quite a volatile arena in which to conduct business, as buyers seek value for money and would-be sellers demand healthy remuneration for the trouble of parting with a player. The Championship especially has become a difficult area of the market to negotiate.

Consider Blackburn Rovers’ Adam Wharton, for example; a talented midfield player who is 19 years old, who has a fair amount of first-team experience at Championship level and who, at some level, has been recognised internationally. You could be describing James. What one club will pay for a player doesn’t automatically mean there’ll be a blanket approach to all of that profile, of course – but still, you’d expect the sums to be in the same ball-park.

Wharton is on the verge of a move to Crystal Palace that will set the Eagles back £18m initially. It could rise to £22m if Wharton triggers certain performance-related clauses. That sort of money places him towards the top of Rovers’ club record sales, alongside the likes of Damien Duff, Roque Santa Cruz and Phil Jones. It’s big dough for a middling Championship side and highlights the importance of self-producing through your academy – as if Blues need any lessons in that department.

The truth is that James would appear to be ahead of Wharton at this moment, particularly in senior goals, senior appearances and seniority at international level. That doesn’t necessarily mean Blues must demand £20m on the spot for all buyers. What they can do – and have done, in the face of Atalanta’s interest – is dig their heels in, reject lowball bids and await fair offers which represent James’ worth to the club at this moment.

They can be pleased, then, that they’ve held their ground this month. James may well leave in the future, as Jude Bellingham, Jack Butland and a host of prosperous young Wast Hills talents have done, but they remain in a strong position contractually. In the meantime, James can help to fire Blues up the league table under Tony Mowbray and focus on firing Wales to the Euros in the next international break – a continental platform which’d potentially only increase his value further.