St Andrew's exit for £2m Birmingham City star in January could be right for all parties | OneFootball

After signing for Birmingham in the summer of 2023, defender Dion Sanderson now finds himself out of the team and may leave the club in January

Having joined Birmingham City from Wolves in the summer of 2023, the signing of Dion Sanderson appeared to be a shrewd piece of business from the Blues, but he now finds himself way down the pecking order, having barely featured this season. A January move away from St Andrew's may now be best for the centre-back.

Having had two prior loans with Birmingham, Sanderson joined permanently prior to a very tumultuous campaign for the club, in which both John Eustace and Wayne Rooney were sacked, and the club were relegated from the Championship. Since the club's return to League One and the subsequent arrival of new manager Chris Davies, Sanderson has seen his minutes greatly limited. Disappointment about his playing time should see the defender seek a move away from Birmingham in the upcoming transfer window.

Dion Sanderson has struggled since permanent Birmingham City move

Sanderson originally joined Birmingham in the summer of 2023 for a reported fee of £2 million from Wolves. He was the club's most expensive transfer that season and arrived surrounded by a great deal of expectation. He was only 23 and had already featured a total of 50 times for the club on loan.

However, after 37 appearances in the Championship, Birmingham were relegated, with Sanderson having started 82% of their matches. This was hardly a good look for the player considering the team conceded 65 goals. Blues missed out on survival by one point on the final day.

Sanderson really struggled in the Championship, registering in the bottom percentile (per90) for most defensive attributes among centre-backs.

Since the club's return to League One, Sanderson has found it almost impossible to get playing time under new manager Chris Davies. He has started only one game in the league, a 1-1 home draw against Reading on the opening day. Since then, he has been limited to only one other substitute appearance against Northampton.

As a 24-year-old looking to progress his career, you can have sympathy for Sanderson, who has been sidelined merely one year into his first permanent professional move. With Birmingham's high spending and promotion intentions, it would appear very unlikely that this will change in the future, as a strong partnership has developed between Christoph Klarer and Krystian Bielik.

Sanderson has had his injuries, which allowed the squad's other centre-backs to concretise their playing connections during his absence.

Dion Sanderson suffers after Birmingham's spending spree

After the club's relegation, Birmingham's owners, Knighthead Capital Management, decided that they would spend big in order to get the club back to where it belongs. This instigated a summer of 13 permanent signings in which the club broke the League One transfer record by splashing £15 million on Fulham's Jay Stansfield.

Versatile defender Alex Cochrane and centre-back Christoph Klarer joined the club from Hearts and Darmstadt respectively, which pushed Sanderson down the pecking order. Captain Bielik is also a centre-back option under Davies, given the quality of depth in midfield. The Blues also secured the services of Ben Davies on loan from Rangers, further strengthening what was ahead of Sanderson.

Sanderson may struggle to return to the Birmingham side

Further evidence of Sanderson's position in the squad can be seen from the fact Davies has opted for a three-man defence at times this season, but still sides against starting the former Wolves man.

The League One table shows Birmingham two points away from top spot, poised to reclaim it when they face Shrewsbury Town. With the club having lost only one game and conceding less than a goal a game, it is unlikely that Sanderson will be reinstated to the starting line-up at the moment; if it isn't broken, don't fix it. An injury or loss of form from a regular starter feels the only route back into the picture at this stage.

For a transfer that had so much promise after encouraging loans, it is sad that things have not worked out for Sanderson at Birmingham. It would clearly be best for the defender's development if he were to make a move elsewhere in January, with the time slot in which the pecking order might change is now shrinking rapidly heading towards the window.

Davies appears to have made his mind up and will be reluctant to compromise the side's promotion push to keep one player happy. It feels like Sanderson's time at Birmingham is up, and a move is best for all parties at this point.