The 3 players linked with Birmingham City this summer - Where did they end up? | OneFootball

It’s been a very promising start to the new campaign for Birmingham City Football Club.

The Blues have struggled for a few years now at the bottom end of the Championship, but last season was seen as progress.

It was their first season under manager John Eustace, and while the club didn’t improve much in their standings, they were fairly comfortable for most of the season.

But developments off the field have seemingly put the football club in a much better place heading into this season.

The new ownership has somewhat transformed the club, and that has continued onto the pitch, as the club currently sits amongst the big boys near the top of the table.

Eustace deserves a lot of credit for the transformation and the work he has put in to make Birmingham have a very competitive squad.

There were lots of new arrivals in the summer, but there were even more players linked with a move to the club, but a move never materialised. So, that got us thinking at FLW about where some of these players ended up.

3 players linked with Birmingham City, but where did they go?

With that said, we have picked three players who were linked to the club but ended up somewhere else…

Jonathan Panzo

Panzo originally came through the youth ranks at Chelsea, but while he was still at a young age, he made a move to French side Monaco.

He stayed there for a couple of years before moving to another French side and then moving once again. This time he came back to England and joined Nottingham Forest in January of last year.

The defender, who can play centre-back and left-back, has been with the club since, making just one appearance as most of his time has been spent on loan elsewhere.

He enjoyed a decent spell at Coventry City last season, and it seemed he was someone that Birmingham City looked at and considered.

However, a move didn’t happen, and he instead joined Cardiff City on a season-long loan deal. He has so far played once for the club and that was a 28-minute cameo against Ipswich Town.

Jesurun Rak-Sakyi

Rak-Sakyi was a player that every Championship club seemed to be linked with at some point in the summer transfer window.

The Crystal Palace man spent last season on loan at Charlton Athletic and really impressed in League One, so when he returned to his parent club, there were keen admirers to secure his signature.

Ipswich Town, Sunderland, Leicester City, Blackburn Rovers, Hull City, and Birmingham City were all linked with the 20-year-old at some point over the summer.

However, all six clubs were left disappointed in their pursuit, as the winger wasn’t let go by Palace and instead stayed with the Premier League club.

He’s so far played twice for the South London club this season, with a seven-minute cameo in the league and 55 minutes in the EFL Cup against Plymouth Argyle.

Josh Maja

Maja is most remembered for his time at Sunderland, but in recent seasons he may have been forgotten about as he moved to France to play for Bordeaux.

Anyway, at the start of the summer, it came to light that the young forward was available on a free transfer after leaving the French side.

It was then reported by French reporter Ignazio Genuardi, that Birmingham were interested in adding the 24-year-old to their squad.

However, there seemed to be nothing else in this story as it went quiet, and then at the beginning of August, it was announced that the former Sunderland player had joined West Bromwich Albion.