According to his own admission, a player who saw a potential move to St Andrew’s fall through this summer had a rather’strange and heated’ relationship with Birmingham City.
One that, once the flame had died down, left both parties feeling a little disappointed.
Despite an eye-catching summer in which Birmingham exhibited a pulling power and financial might that most League One clubs can only dream of, The Blues have not had a perfect summer.
Jordan James moved from League One to Ligue 1 when he joined Rennes.
Birmingham also lost out on Goduine Koyalipou. Last season’s Golden Boot winner in the Belgian second division chose Bulgarian club CSKA Sofia instead.
And, as for Mike Eerdhuijzen, De Telegraaf reported at the end of June that Chris Davies’ side was willing to pay roughly £2 million. The Sparta Rotterdam center-back has also been given a four-year deal in the Midlands.
However, despite seeing Birmingham’s training site, the deal ultimately failed, according to the Birmingham Mail.
Birmingham City miss out on Mike Eerdhuijzen
Eerdhuijzen now explains why.
The former Netherlands Under-20 international insists that Sparta Rotterdam made the decision, not him. The near neighbours of Feyenoord, the 2023 Eredivisie champions, were eager to avoid losing another centre-back following the departure of the very experienced Bart Vriends to Australian football.
“It is logical that they do not want to lose me,” Eerdhuijzen told RTV Rijnmond. “It was up to the club, not me.
“So much has transpired in Birmingham. You want to forget about it. It was mentally challenging. FC Twente immediately appeared around the corner.”
FC Twente then targeted Eerdhuijzen. After surprisingly losing captain Robin Propper to Scottish Premiership opponents Rangers, last season’s third-place team turned to the 6ft 5ins stopper.
“I never say never, but I didn’t necessarily say yes to FC Twente either,” he says, evidently influenced by the Blues saga. “I learned from Birmingham, and I don’t want to get smacked again. Something odd and intense had transpired in Birmingham.
“I wasn’t expecting anything anymore. “I was just busy playing football.”
Birmingham did, however, add three more Dutch top-flight players. Emil Hansson joins from Heracles, and Willum Thor Willumson, the exquisite, rangy, box-crashing attacking midfielder, will be a revelation if he can repeat his Go Ahead Eagles form in England’s third tier.
Alfons Sampsted, a former Bodo/Glimt right-back, has now joined on loan from Twente.
Chris Davies’ League One title favourites eyeing more signings
“I am really satisfied. It has taken a few days, but it is great that everything is set up and ready,” says Sampsted, who was a member of the Bodo/Glimt team that defeated Jose Mourinho’s Roma 6-1 in Europe, according to the Birmingham website.
“I spent the previous 24 hours waiting for permission from the clubs to travel to this location. So I boarded the train to Amsterdam and stayed at a friend’s house five minutes from the airport, ready to board the plane.”
Davies, a former Celtic and Tottenham Hotspur assistant, feels that Birmingham’s transfer efforts are far from over.
“We still have a long way to go,” Davies tells the Birmingham Mail. His side will face Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday afternoon. “We still need to finish the squad, build some more, and bring in a few players, no doubt about it. But it was encouraging to see how those players might have an impact (against Charlton).
HITC is aware that Jordan Jones of Wigan Athletic is a target. However, the former Rangers winger has piqued the curiosity of Championship clubs.