Birmingham City‘s summer business is already showing the rest of the Championship that they’re set to cause a storm next season.
Phil Neumann is the only confirmed arrival at this point, but statement deals for both Demarai Gray and Tommy Doyle to enter the building look set to be completed very soon, with the midfield pairing boasting a bumper 251 combined Premier League appearances.
On top of that, yet another bold switch looks near to being completed too, with another arrival actually costing Birmingham nothing, as an exciting free agent edges ever closer to a St. Andrew’s move.
Birmingham closing in on deal for exciting free agent
The latest on a move for Gray is that he’s agreed on personal terms with the club and is due to have a medical on Monday before a deal is officially announced.
While he is set to arrive on a free transfer, his former employers, Saudi club Ettifaq retain a 20% sell-on clause. Yet, Gray isn’t the only exciting addition set to arrive in the forthcoming days.
Indeed, as per an update from journalist Mike McGrath via his X account, Birmingham are closing in on landing former Queens Park Rangers ace Bright Osayi-Samuel’s signature on a free transfer.
It had been originally speculated by Football Insider that Chris Davies and Co. had just held talks about picking up the EFL-experienced 27-year-old after his Fenerbahce deal had expired. Now, it appears now that the move has accelerated to the point where he could soon be unveiled as another ambitious Blues signing.
Why Osayi-Samuel could be a better signing than Gray
It could be argued that landing Osayi-Samuel is a better signing than the newly promoted outfit being reunited with Gray with the Nigerian only plying his trade in the Championship a matter of seasons ago at Loftus Road, compared to the Jamaican international’s long exodus from the EFL’s elite league.
Moreover, Osayi-Samuel has continued to perform to the peak of his powers in Turkey, even with his contract now up in Istanbul, whilst Gray notably struggled when calling the Saudi Pro League home.
Osayi-Samuel even lined up for Jose Mourinho’s titans in the Europa League last season, but it will be his previous heroics in the Championship for QPR that will have caught the West Midlands side’s eye even more.
Birmingham fans might well know what the 27-year-old is capable of already if they cast their mind back a few years when he scored a “blistering” solo strike – in the words of Mark Warburton.
Showcasing his devastating speed – he put away the chance above for QPR all the way back in 2019 against the Blues, with that standout effort just one of 13 strikes he registered in the second tier.
Gray, on the other hand, has a lesser eight strikes next to his name from 72 clashes in the challenging division, with Osayi-Samuel also bettering his 29-year-old counterpart with 12 assists in Championship action, next to the Birmingham-born winger’s meagre output of just three.
Away from their Championship numbers alone, the new Birmingham target has also shown no signs of visible rust across his 178 appearances for Fenerbahce, with a bumper seven goals and 15 assists coming his way, whilst Gray only picked up a disastrous one goal contribution all of last season for All-Ettifaq, away from only managing a weaker nine goals and assists in total.
|
Osayi-Samuel’s numbers by position at QPR |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Position played |
Games played |
Goals scored |
Assists |
|
RM |
57 |
7 |
5 |
|
RW |
22 |
5 |
5 |
|
LW |
11 |
1 |
0 |
|
LM |
11 |
0 |
0 |
|
CF |
6 |
0 |
1 |
|
AM |
5 |
0 |
1 |
|
RB |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
Sourced by Transfermarkt |
|||
Osayi-Samuel would also be a far smarter addition than Gray when you consider his all-around versatility for the cause, with the ex-Hoops man more than capable of causing defences problems down Gray’s preferred right flank, whilst also offering a valuable body across many other areas of the pitch which even stretches out to being a makeshift striker.
This will come in handy as Birmingham attempt to be in and around the promotion positions, knowing full well that the stacked Championship fixture list might bring about damaging injuries.
Therefore, the “outstanding” free agent, as he was also labelled by Warburton, could prove himself to be a very shrewd purchase, away from Birmingham excessively splashing the cash.
Of course, Gray would likely come in and do a job, but the purchase of Osayi-Samuel might well just slide under the radar for the time being, when he could be even better in the long run than the homegrown talent’s return.
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