Birmingham City: Player with "world-beater" potential urged to change Chris Davies mind | OneFootball

Dembele could find game time hard to come by this season so must be ready to make an impact off the bench

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Siriki Dembele was inconsistent in a dismal season for Birmingham City as they were relegated from the Championship in 2023/24, and it looks as if he has a battle on his hands to earn a starting berth under Chris Davies in League One.

Dembele joined Blues last July on a three-year deal from Bournemouth, after 18 months with the Cherries in which he helped the club win promotion to the Premier League as runners-up in 2021/22.

The 27-year-old winger arrived at St Andrew's amid a raft of new signings, and impressed in the early stages of the campaign, but fell victim to managerial changes and decisions and ended the season out of favour under interim boss Gary Rowett as Birmingham failed to avoid the drop.

Dembele still managed to register six goals and one assist in 33 league appearances in his debut season in B9, a healthy return given his game time and the club's poor season, but he will be hoping for a fresh lease of life back in the third-tier under new boss Davies.

Dembele has to earn Birmingham City chance

Dembele is a proven entity in League One from his time at Peterborough United, but may find it tough to break into Davies' starting XI given the existing options he has, and the additions he has made to his squad this summer.

He was already competing with Keshi Anderson, Jordan James and Juninho Bacuna for a place on the left-wing last season, and former Swedish youth international Emil Hansson has since joined the club from Eredivisie side Heracles for £1.5m.

FLW's Blues fan pundit Mike Gibbs is skeptical over whether the Ivory Coast-born winger will be in line for a starting role in Davies' side, and believes he needs to add some steel and grit alongside his attacking talents to boost his chances of more game time.

“I’m a bit torn on Dembele and whether he’ll play a big role or not. I don’t think he’ll be first choice, I think Hansson is first choice on the left-hand side and Miyoshi is first choice on the right-hand side, so first of all, he’s going to have to break into the team," he said.

“I can absolutely see him having an impact off the bench, and looking forward, he’s probably going to have to really be a standout sub when coming on and take the position of either Miyoshi or Hansson.

“There’s no doubt that he is talented, he’s proven it at the level and showed glimpses of it last year as well.

“Everyone knows that it’s not his forward play that is the concern here, it’s more the ugly side of his game, the tracking back, pressing, working in the team. If he can really add that to his game, then he is an absolute world-beater at this level.

“If he does do that, then Chris Davies will like him, he’ll play more games and then have more of an impact.”

Dembele is a great option to have in League One

While he could find minutes hard to come by under Davies, Dembele has previously shown his worth in the third-tier in his time at Peterborough and will hope to draw inspiration from that period in the upcoming season.

He spent four seasons at the Weston Homes Stadium and became one of Posh's most important players in the 2020/21 season as he registered 12 goals and 12 assists each in 45 games in all competitions under Darren Ferguson and helped fire the club to promotion to the Championship.

His strong early season 2021/22 Championship form saw multiple clubs chasing his signature in the January window, and he went on to sign for Bournemouth, where he earned another promotion, this time to the top-flight, and then featured six times in the Premier League for the Cherries in 2022/23.

That sort of experience and pedigree is rare in this Birmingham squad, despite their frivolous transfer window, and League One as a whole, but Dembele has to make it work to his advantage this season, rather than be irked if he is not given an automatic starting berth.

There is no doubting his talents, especially in the third tier, but he needs to put in some strong performances over the coming weeks to be considered as one of Birmingham's most important players as they aim to bounce straight back to the Championship at the first time of asking.