Football League World
·10. November 2024
Football League World
·10. November 2024
We took a look at how AI values the transfer worth of some of Birmingham City's key players
Relegation to League One at the end of the 2023/24 season has proved a blessing for Birmingham City, and perhaps unsurprisingly, they're flying high in the table.
Blues endured some tough seasons in the Championship and, after years of avoiding relegation, they finally fell through the relegation trapdoor, but the club's ambitious owners, Knighthead Capital, have invested huge sums of money into the playing squad over the summer in a bid to return to the second tier.
The likes of Christoph Klarer and Willum Willumsson were both signed for fees in the region of £3.5million, before Jay Stansfield moved to St Andrew's for a fee worth a reported £15million, the sort of money which had never been seen in League One before, and probably won't again.
Using Football Transfers' Estimated Transfer Value tool, we've decided to take a look at how much Stansfield, Klarer and Krystian Bielik are worth using AI.
The ETV tool uses a range of factors such as age, position, current performance, experience and projected potential to determine a player's value, so with that in mind, let's take a look at how much the Birmingham trio are valued at.
Using the Estimated Transfer Value tool, Stansfield is valued at €8.4million, with an estimated range of between €6.3million and €10.5million. €8.4million works out as just over £7million, which is less than half of what Blues actually paid for him in the summer, but the St Andrew's faithful will not care in the slightest if he continues scoring goals and fires them to the League One title.
Meanwhile, Klarer, who joined Birmingham from SV Darmstadt 98 in the summer, has an AI value of €3.7million, and a range of between €2.8million and €4.6million. His AI value of €3.7million works out as just over £3million, meaning the £3.5million Blues forked out in the summer is about right.
Meanwhile, Bielik, who joined Birmingham from Derby County back in 2023 after spending the previous season on loan at St Andrew's, is valued at €3.5million, with a range of between €2.6million and €4.3million.
This works out as just shy of £3million, and that's about right for a player of his quality, and he's played an important role for Chris Davies' side during the early months of the season.
It's clear that Birmingham have a squad full of players who are too good for this level, and the trio are set to play an important role as they battle for the title.
With the money they've spent and the players they have at their disposal, Birmingham City have to be winning the League One title this season.
They've made an excellent start to the season as expected, but there are plenty of other sides who've started brightly too, particularly Wycombe Wanderers, and Davies will know that any slip-up could cost them in such a competitive division.
Knighthead have pumped money into the playing squad as they want to win promotion at the first attempt, and they'll be far from happy if Blues aren't playing in the Championship when the 2025/26 season gets underway.
After years of lingering towards the bottom of the Championship and struggling for a long-term plan, relegation to League One has arguably been a blessing in disguise for the club, and while supporters will be enjoying it now, the novelty will soon wear off if they don't win promotion.
With Wycombe knocking Birmingham off top spot in midweek, Blues know they're not going to have it all their own way this season, and with the games set to come thick and fast in the coming months, it's an important period for the club.