“Under the radar” - Claim made over £3.5m Birmingham City summer recruit | OneFootball

Birmingham City fan pundit Mike is expecting more from £3.5m summer signing Willum Willumsson.

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 can expect to see more from Willum Willumsson moving forward once Chris Davies has settled on his preferred attacking setup.

It was an incredibly busy summer at St. Andrew’s, with the new boss backed to extraordinary levels by the board as they look to win promotion back to the Championship.

Whilst the £15m capture of Jay Stansfield has attracted the most attention, Blues also spent some major sums, by League One standards, on others including Christoph Klarer and Willumsson, who are both believed to have cost £3.5m each.

Willum Willumsson still finding his feet with Birmingham City

There was a lot of excitement surrounding the arrival of Willumsson, as he had performed very well with Go Ahead Eagles in the Dutch top-flight last season, where he scored seven goals as an attacking midfielder.

So, there is an expectation that the Icelandic international will become a key player in the third tier, but it’s fair to say Willumsson is yet to fully get going.

That’s not to say that he hasn’t contributed, as Willumsson does have one goal and one assist, and the 25-year-old does look like a class act, but fan pundit Mike told FLW that he thinks there’s more to come from the player, who has been overshadowed by other new signings in the opening weeks.

“I’m not quite sure he is living up to the billing to be honest, only because the bar has been set quite high by other players.

“Alfie May has done well, Alex Cochrane has been outstanding, I’m a really big fan of Klarer at the back. So, I think Willumsson has gone a little bit under the radar because he’s not had the same sort of impact as others.

“It was a big fee, there’s more to come, and really with the forward players I think Chris Davies is yet to work out his best formation and who plays where.”

Chris Davies will need time at Birmingham City

Obviously, the expectation at Blues is to win the league this season, and many will expect instant results from Davies and the big-money signings.

That’s natural, and the early weeks have been hugely positive, with the side picking up results and getting to grips with the style of play that the boss wants.

However, it still needs to be acknowledged that Davies is a new manager, and there was a huge turnover of players in the summer, so patience is going to be required for some.

Willumsson falls into that category, but it’s clear he has a lot of technical ability, and he has the physicality to cope with the English game.

Therefore, fans should be excited, as you get the feeling there’s so much more to come from the whole team, and they’re still at the beginning of what is a long-term project.

As mentioned above, Davies is still searching for the right formula in the final third, and the strength in depth he has to choose from is quite ridiculous for this level, so it may take time before his best XI becomes clear.