"I'm shocked at that" - Reaction given to detail in Birmingham City, Jay Stansfield transfer | OneFootball

Birmingham City made headlines for the astounding transfer fee that was paid for Jay Stansfield, but it may end up being worthwhile.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Birmingham City have had a strong start to life in League One, as expected.

The Blues are currently playing third-tier football for the first time in 30 years, and the goal, of course, is to gain an immediate promotion back to the Championship. Anything less than promotion this season will be a huge disappointment for Birmingham City fans, considering the squad that they have at their disposal.

Chris Davies, who was most recently Assistant Manager at Spurs, is at the helm at St Andrew's for his first managerial role, and he seems to be settling in nicely.

His side have picked up three wins and a draw from their opening four games, which sees them sit third in the table. The results suggest that Birmingham are not totally dominating games, but once the squad has had time to gel, it seems as though that will change.

It has been an incredibly busy summer for the Blues as they have spent a lot of money on the playing squad to ensure they achieve promotion at the first attempt. The signing of Alfie May has especially proven to be a stroke of genius, with the striker scoring four in four so far.

Their latest recruit, however, is the one that everyone is talking about.

Jay Stansfield links up with Birmingham City once again

Jay Stansfield was Birmingham's bright spark last year in what was a disastrous campaign altogether. He spent the duration of the season on loan at St Andrew's from Fulham and scored 12 Championship goals, despite the club's relegation to the third tier.

He became a fan favourite, and discussions were beginning to be had around the possibility of signing him on a permanent deal. Of course, with the club now in League One, a deal was always going to be more difficult, but eventually after plenty of speculation, Birmingham secured a permanent deal on deadline day.

The Blues reportedly paid a fee of more than £10 million, with some reports suggesting the fee is as much as £15 million plus add ons.

This fee broke the League One transfer record by some distance and has had a lot of people talking, but Birmingham City fans are understandably over the moon.

Stansfield signed a seven-year deal with Birmingham, which is not something you tend to see in the EFL, but it means that the club are guaranteed to keep him around for years to come, or sell him on for a profit.

We spoke to FLW's Blues fan pundit, Mike Gibbs, who was surprised, yet excited, by the transfer.

"Am I shocked at a reported £15 million? I think the short answer to that is yes. It's a hell of a lot of money and if you look at the previous League One record, it's triple that. You look at our record, it's over double that.

"The fact we're in our lowest league position for 30-odd years, and we've doubled our biggest purchase, yes, I'm shocked at that. I've heard various reports of somewhere between £10m and £20m, so who knows what it is?

"I'd be surprised if it was a £15m + 5 personally. That does seem like a huge amount of money. I'd be thinking it's probably close to 10, but who will really know? Maybe we'll get some clarity when the books come out at the end of the year.

"For £15 million, I still don't think we've overpaid. He's a young, English striker. If he has a good season this year, we get promoted, and he scores a bag full of goals next year, he could quite easily double his price tag.

A" seven-year contract, apart from a horrific injury, I don't see a huge amount of risk and I think it's a good deal."