Birmingham City To Boost Squad With £3 Million Transfer

The likely sale of Jobe Bellingham from Championship side Sunderland to Crystal Palace might provide Birmingham with an additional boost to their already considerable transfer budget.

Last week, it was reported that the Blues were planning to use a £20 million transfer fund to bulldoze their way back to the Championship. However, thanks to a 15% sell-on option included in the sale of Jobe Bellingham to Sunderland, they may be set to get an additional windfall, according to Birmingham World.

Jobe, the brother of England and Real Madrid striker Jude, joined the Black Cats for around £5 million and has since received multiple approaches from Premier League clubs. The Guardian estimated that it would require an offer of more than £20 million to gain his signing, which, given the 15% sell-on charge, would be around £3 million.

Sunderland have already rejected an earlier offer, but with the Premier League side wanting to replace Michael Olise in a deal worth up to £50 million to Bayern Munich, they may have the flexibility to return with a better offer.

Birmingham to buy their way to success?

Many clubs have tried the route that Birmingham is currently taking. Big club enters League One, spends heavily to attempt to get out, and it doesn’t always work. If it occurs, Championship-level pay will have little effect, and second-tier money will quickly cover it. If the club fails to be promoted, it may find itself stuck and attempting to offload underperforming, highly paid players in order to balance the books on League One income.

Portsmouth, Sunderland, Derby County, and Ipswich Town all found themselves in the third tier for various reasons and were unable to achieve a return immediately, with some even taking longer. While the spending appears to be good right now. It is also a significant risk.