Birmingham City will hope they don’t regret Sontje Hansen miss – Middlesbrough could be laughing | OneFootball

Birmingham City will hope that Middlesbrough signing Sontje Hansen is not a move that they will live to regret this season.

Birmingham City have a strong squad and they have started the season very well, but it could well be that they have some regret about a particular transfer this summer, and will hope it doesn’t come back to bite them.

Following their record-breaking promotion from League One last season, in which Birmingham spent heavily to set a new EFL points tally of 111 under the management of Chris Davies, the ambition is to go back-to-back and try to re-establish themselves as a Premier League club.

The Blues began their return to the second-tier with a 1-1 draw against Ipswich Town in which they were unfortunate not to take all three points before a controversial George Hirst penalty levelled things for the Tractor Boys.

They backed that up with another good performance against last season’s Championship play-off finalists Sheffield United, knocking the Blades out of the first round of the EFL Cup with a 2-1 win at St Andrew’s.

Their squad seems strong, their business has been good and things look positive for Birmingham, but the one key area of the squad that they are missing extra quality is on the right-wing, and missing out on Sontje Hansen will be a deal they hope they don’t regret.

Birmingham may regret letting Hansen go to Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough have brought in winger Sontje Hansen from Dutch Eredivisie side NEC Nijmegen for a €3.5m euros/£3m fee, beating the likes of Birmingham City, who had been linked with the forward..

Hansen, who came through the academy at Ajax and did make two first-team appearances for the Amsterdam giants before his move to NEC in the summer of 2023, quickly established himself as an

extremely exciting player in the Dutch top-flight, playing 65 Eredivisie games over the last two seasons.

Tricky and pacey, with an impressive directness, Hansen is expected to offer Rob Edwards and Boro an added dynamism in attack, which is helped by his versatility of being able to play across the front three, albeit mainly out wide on the right.

The right-footed former Netherlands youth international would have seemingly been ideal for stretching defences for a Birmingham side expected to come up against lots of low blocks this season, with Blues having an inordinate amount of possession, requiring a burst.

They have allowed Emil Hansson, more often deployed on the left when he did play last season, to join Blackpool, whilst there are reservations over the quality and speed of Willum Willumsson for the right-wing position.

Return of Demarai Gray is romantic but currently pragmatic

The return of Demarai Gray to the club, who left in January 2016, is a romantic move, but it should have its practical benefits, too, with the Jamaica international showing he was still capable of playing Premier League level football until he left Everton for Saudi Pro League side Al Ettifaq in 2023.

His best moments in the top-flight came with the Toffees, and his best performances for them either came as a lone striker working the channels, or drifting in from the left and on to his right foot, scoring a couple of memorable goals doing that against Arsenal at Goodison Park and Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

Gray playing on the left-hand side would therefore surely be Davies’ and Birmingham’s preference, with him usurping the reliable but perhaps limited, at least in terms of Blues’ overall ambitions, Keshi Anderson.

Signing a right-winger to allow Gray to move across would help the team more widely, and it could well be that Hansen was the man to be able to do that, stretching the play going one side, running in behind and down the line, allowing for Gray to provide balance by cutting inside from the left.

A profile similar to Hansen may yet be brought in by the second-city outfit, but they will hope they don’t live to regret failing to do a deal for Hansen and allowing Middlesbrough to swoop in for the Dutchman.