Jordan James Regret leaving Birmingham City for Rennes

Birmingham City were dealt a blow in the summer transfer window when Jordan James completed a move away from St Andrew’s to join Ligue One side Rennes, but it hasn’t stopped Chris Davies’ side from making an excellent start to the season.

It’s well-documented that Blues had an impressive transfer window, spending huge sums of money and bringing in quality players, but losing James was still a blow considering his obvious potential and links with the club, having joined them as an eight-year-old.

The Welsh international looked set to play an important role for Davies’ side this season, but his desire to play at a higher level was understandable, and Birmingham could receive as much as £8million for selling him to Rennes.

Birmingham’s impressive start to the season may have softened the blow of losing James somewhat, but the St Andrew’s faithful might be curious as to how he’s getting on across the Channel.

With that in mind, we’ve taken a look at how James is getting on at his new club.

Jordan James has struggled for playing time at Rennes

It’s not been an ideal start for the 20-year-old in Brittany, and he’s made just three substitute appearances so far, totaling 27 minutes of football.

He made his debut from the bench on the second weekend of the season, playing 18 minutes in a 3-1 loss to RC Strasbourg before playing just one minute in a 3-0 win over Montpellier, and making his most recent appearance against Lens on the weekend, featuring for eight minutes as his side were held to a 1-1 draw.

James has been involved in every matchday squad, playing three of Rennes’ five games, being an unused substitute for fixtures against Lyon and Stade Reims.

Rennes boss Julien Stéphan has opted for the likes of Baptiste Santamaria, Azor Matusiwa, Albert Grønbæk and former Leeds United man Glen Kamara over James, and he looks set to play a bit-part role this season.

However, the 20-year-old is still young and has a contract with Rennes until the summer of 2028, so it’s certainly not panic stations yet, and you’d have thought that James would see increased playing time as the season goes on when his side’s squad depth is tested.

Perhaps it’s not been the ideal start for the Welshman, but the fact he’s being included in the matchday squad shows he’s in the manager’s plans, and he’ll be looking for his first start in the near future.

Jordan James has more international minutes than club minutes this season

While he may be struggling for starts at club level, James is still a key figure in Craig Bellamy’s Wales side, and his 117 minutes at international level dwarfs his 27 minutes for Rennes.

James started and played 88 minutes as Wales were held to a 0-0 draw by Turkey in the Nations League, before being used from the bench away to Montenegro, notching 29 minutes as his country won 2-1, handing Bellamy his first win as Wales boss.

The 20-year-old has credit in the bank for now at international level, but if he continues to struggle for minutes at club level, Bellamy may be forced to drop him in favour of players who are starting on a regular basis, and it’ll be interesting to see whether James starts Wales’ next fixture against Iceland next month.

James already has 12 Wales caps under his belt, and he looks certain to be a mainstay on the international stage for the years to come, but he’ll also be hoping to break into Rennes’ starting XI in a bid to ensure he keeps his starting place in Bellamy’s side.