"To be brutally honest" - Birmingham City disappointment voiced over £1.5m deal | OneFootball

FLW's Birmingham City fan pundit shared his thoughts on Emil Hansson's opening campaign with the club

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...

Emil Hansson has endured a frustrating opening campaign in English football after signing for Birmingham City from Eredivisie outfit Heracles in a hotly-anticipated deal last summer.

Blues made little secret of their ambitions during last summer's transfer window, which saw them outspend anybody else in League One history in a bid to return to the Championship as swiftly as possible and build the foundations for the long-term targets in place.

The likes of Christoph Klarer, Ben Davies, Alex Cochrane, Willum Willumsson, Alfie May and, of course, Jay Stansfield all headed to St Andrews @ Knighthead Park in ambitious moves which served to underline Birmingham's promotion credentials and financial muscle.

One of the more interesting arrivals in the blue quarters of the Second City was that of Hansson, who joined from Heracles in a reported £1.5 million deal.

The Swedish winger registered five goals and six assists in the Dutch top-flight last term, having previously chalked up 35 goal involvements to help Heracles to promotion the season before.

But Hansson has struggled to get going this term. He's yet to contribute a goal from any of his 13 League One appearances, although he has missed large chunks of the season through injury.

Honest Birmingham City verdict offered on Emil Hansson

FLW asked our resident Bluenose fan pundit, Mike Gibbs, if he believes Hansson has been a disappointing signing thus far in spite of his injury troubles and whether the Swede is capable of making the step up to the Championship next season.

Birmingham are top of the league with two games in hand and a nine-point advantage over third-placed Wrexham and will accordingly have at least one eye on the Championship already. Mike believes it's too soon to ascertain if the 26-year-old can perform at Championship level, but he has conceded his signing has been a disappointing one.

"I think he has been a bit of a disappointing signing, to be brutally honest," Mike told FLW.

"He's been really unlucky with injuries and hasn't been able to get going. New to the league and new to the country, he was starting to settle in and he's now had a couple of injuries which have really affected things.

"On the basis of what we've seen so far, I think it is a bit disappointing.

"I still think there's going to be a player there. I think it's too soon to say whether he could step up to the Championship as he's just not performed in League One, but I'm still hopeful.

"Hopefully a good run of games in the back end of the season can help him find his form and he can kick on. In the grand scheme of things, it's not a huge amount of money but I think everyone would agree it hasn't turned out particularly well."

Birmingham City must bolster their wide options next season

Almost everything has gone according to plan this season for Birmingham, who have naturally been operating at a class above to the third tier and are poised to seal an unhitched return to the Championship at the first time of asking courtesy of many of their ambitious summer signings.

But one obvious flaw in an otherwise well-oiled machine has been the lack of quality, consistency and goals from wide areas. Hansson hasn't the heights, but he's not the only one to fall short.

Scott Wright has been in and out of the side, Davies didn't trust Ayumu Yokoyama before loaning him out to Genk and Keshi Anderson has been the only wide player to make his mark this term, with the likes of May and Stansfield both being deployed out of position on the wing on occasions.

That's a damning indictment of how short-staffed Blues are in both quality and indeed personnel in that area of the pitch. They've been able to get by in League One but must be looking to recruit some serious quality on both flanks in order to compete in the Championship next time out.