[themaclad]

Birmingham City have brought in Iceland right-back Alfons Sampsted on a season-long loan from Dutch top-flight side FC Twente.

The 26-year-old, who has won 20 full caps for his country, becomes Blues’ 11th signing of the summer transfer window.

Birmingham, who began their League One campaign with a 1-1 draw at home to Reading on Saturday, have an option to make Sampsted’s move permanent at the end of the season.

“It has been a couple of days coming but it is very nice that everything is set up and ready,” Sampsted told Blues TV, external.

The defender began his career in his homeland with Breidablik before moving to Swedish side IFK Norrkoping and then Norway’s Bodo/Glimt, where he helped to win back-to-back league titles.

Sampsted has made 36 Eredivisie appearances since joining Twente at the beginning of 2023.

---

Wales midfielder Jordan James has completed his move from Birmingham City to French top-flight side Rennes.

Serie A side Atalanta tried to sign the 20-year-old in January but he has now moved to Ligue 1 in a deal reportedly worth £4m.

Rennes, managed by Julien Stephan, finished 10th in Ligue 1 last season.

James has made 104 appearances, scoring 10 goals, for Birmingham since making his debut in November 2021, having come through the youth set-up at St Andrew's.

He has 11 caps for Wales but also played for England Under-20s, having been born in Hereford.

James made 42 league appearances last season as Birmingham were relegated from the Championship but did not feature in their League One opener, a 1-1 draw with Reading, on Saturday.

[themaclad]

Birmingham City have signed Taylor Gardner-Hickman from Championship club Bristol City.

The 22-year-old Shropshire-born former West Bromwich Albion midfielder has signed initally on loan with a view to a more permanent deal.

He becomes the League One promotion favourites' 12th signing of the summer transfer window.

Gardner-Hickman, who joined Bristol City from Albion initially on loan in August 2023, has scored one goal in 40 appearances for the Robins.


"He's young still, but he already has good experience in the Championship with West Bromwich Albion and Bristol City.

"He's high energy. He's versatile. And he's a player that fits in profile wise with the type of team we want to be.

"Another example who falls into the category of Championship-level players who believe in the project that we're building here."

[themaclad]

Birmingham City have made their 13th summer transfer window signing by bringing in centre-back Ben Davies on a season's loan from Rangers - while allowing young defender Tommy Fogarty to head north of the border to join Dunfermline Athletic.

Davies, 29, joins a Blues side who have made a solid start under new boss Chris Davies following relegation from the Championship, picking up seven points out of a possible nine from their first three League One matches.

Davies has spent two seasons north of the border with Rangers after signing from Liverpool for £4m ona four-year deal in July 2022.

He was with Preston North End until he joined Liverpool as a deadline-day loan signing in February 2021 but he never made a first team appearance.

Instead he moved to Sheffield United for the 2021-22 season, helping the Blades to reach the Championship play-offs.
Blues have also allowed young defender Fogarty to move the other way, to join Scottish Championship side Dunfermline Athletic on loan.

The 20-year-old Northern Ireland Under-21 international also went out on loan last season, with National League side Ebbsfleet United.

Fogarty has another two full seasons on his Blues contract until 2026, having signed a new three-year deal in October 2023.

He joins a Pars side who finished sixth in the Scottish second tier last season and are managed by former Coventry City defender James McPake.

[themaclad]

Birmingham City have made their 14th signing of the summer transfer window by bringing in Scotland striker Lyndon Dykes from Queens Park Rangers for an undisclosed fee.

The 28-year-old has agreed a three-year contract with Blues after scoring 37 goals in 165 appearances for the west London club.

The last of them was in their 2-2 draw at Sheffield United on 17 August, but he was not involved in Saturday's home game against Wayne Rooney's Plymouth Argyle, which also ended 2-2.

Dykes has dropped a level from the Championship to League One to join a Birmingham side, who, having been installed as promotion favourites, have made a good start, taking seven points from their first three games.

"The club has a clear aim for where they want to go in the future," Dykes told Bluestv.

"They are ambitious and that is like myself as a player.

"I want to get to the top and I am hoping that can be with Birmingham. There are quality players here and it is a top-class club."

Meanwhile, Blues have confirmed forward Juninho Bacuna has left the club to join Saudi side Al-Wehda for an undisclosed fee.

The 27-year-old scored 13 goals in 111 appearances for Birmingham but had not been involved this season.

[themaclad]

Birmingham City have signed Celtic midfielder Tomoki Iwata and Rangers winger Scott Wright, both for undisclosed fees.

The pair have signed three-year contracts at St Andrew's.

Iwata, 27, made 42 appearances for Celtic and won two Scottish Premiership titles, two Scottish Cups and one Scottish Cup at Celtic Park.

Wright, also 27, won the Scottish Premiership, Scottish Cup and League Cup during his three years at Ibrox and started in the Europa League final defeat by Eintracht Frankfurt two years ago.

He is the second player Blues have signed from Rangers this week following the arrival of former Preston and Liverpool centre-half Ben Davies.

Meanwhile winger Koji Miyoshi, 27, has joined German side VfL Bochum for an undisclosed fee.

League One club Birmingham City completed arguably the most stunning signing of the summer 2024 transfer window as they signed Fulham striker Jay Stansfield for a fee of more than £10m on a seven-year deal.

At the same time they were completing a second signing of the night and 16th of the summer to bring in Celtic's Tomoki Iwata, the American-owned club - relegated from the Championship last season - then made it 17 with the biggest of the lot.

They are understood to have agreed to pay Fulham £10m plus bonuses if Blues are promoted, after the Premier League side had turned down an initial bid earlier on Friday.

Fulham also stand to benefit from any future move after having a sell-on clause inserted into the deal.

And, although the price officially remains "undisclosed", it has certainly smashed the League One transfer record.

That was understood to be the £4m paid by Sunderland to Wigan Athletic for Will Grigg five years ago.

But it has been widely reported that Blues had already come close to breaking that themselves earlier this summer with their back-to-back deals for defender Christoph Klarer and midfielder Willum Willumsson.

Both were also undisclosed, but both were thought to be around the £4m mark.

Blues' spending is now understood to have topped £25m this summer, having also paid seven-figure fees for Emil Hansson, Ayumu Yokoyama, Alex Cochrane and Lyndon Dykes - as well as bringing in nine other new men.

The spree has been bankrolled by owners Knighthead, fronted by chairman Tom Wagner and with seven-time American football Super Bowl winner Tom Brady as part-owner.

Blues sign Celtic's Iwata and Wright from Rangers
Published
2 days ago
Northampton sign Roberts on loan from Birmingham
Published
2 days ago
Burton sign midfielder Donovan & striker Stutter
Published
2 days ago
Who is Jay Stansfield?
Stansfield, son of late former Exeter City player Adam Stansfield, has made 10 appearances for Fulham since joining the west London club in 2019, scoring twice - both in League Cup ties against Blues, the second of them only this week.

He has also spent time on loan back at his dad's old club Exeter before arriving in Birmingham last August.

He scored 13 goals in 47 appearances for Blues in his season on loan, won all Birmingham City's player of the season awards and played under six different bosses - but he could not prevent the club being relegated to League One.


Whatever way you look at it, a League One side forking out what is reportedly an eight-figure fee for a player is an extravagance.

And in the case of Jay Stansfield, he was the 17th and final new addition to the squad of first-year manager Chris Davies - a change of personnel, a change of style and a change of culture.

While the pursuit of Stansfield was lingering and ultimately very expensive, the overall revolution has been methodical and purposeful.

It is designed not just to bring promotion but to then re-establish the club in the Championship and beyond.

Sales have been made too, and revenue streams greatly enhanced under owners Knighthead.

But expectation has grown exponentially and Blues’ League One rivals will be even keener to take them down a peg or two.

[themaclad]

Birmingham City midfielder Keshi Anderson has signed a new one-year extension to his contract with the League One pacesetters.

The 29-year-old joined Blues from Blackpool in June 2023 on an initial 12-month deal, with an option for a further year.

Now, Anderson has agreed fresh terms to stay until at least the end of the 2025-26 season.

He has featured in all but one of Birmingham's nine League One matches this season, scoring in the 2-1 win at Leyton Orient in late August, as the club moved to the top of the table off the back of seven straight wins.


"With everything that's happened last year, getting relegated, I want to be part of us getting back to where the club belongs and if not even higher."

Anderson, who helped Blues beat Shrewsbury 4-0 on Tuesday to move closer to the knockout stages of the Bristol Street Motors Trophy, is the second player to sign a contract extension at the club in the space of two days after South Korea midfielder Paik Seung-ho agreed a new two-year deal.

[themaclad]

Birmingham City defender Ethan Laird has signed a new two-year contract extension to remain with the League One club until the summer of 2028.

The 23-year-old joined Blues from Manchester United in June 2023 and featured 26 times as they were relegated from the Championship last season.

Laird, who has been out since late August with an ankle injury, has featured six times in all competitions so far this term as Birmingham have made a strong start to their first campaign in England's third tier for 29 years.

"Everyone knows the direction where this club is going, and I am buzzing that the board see me fit to be a part of it – and long may it continue," Laird told the club website.