Birmingham City's £1.5m deal with Man Utd made them money, it could have been different though: View | OneFootball

Before the 2022/23 Championship season, Birmingham City made many changes in personnel, but not many came as high-prolife as Tahith Chong.

After spending the entire 2021/22 campaign with the Blues, Chong joined the Championship club on a permanent basis that summer, and they would have hoped it would have been for longer than it was.

Birmingham City signed Tahith Chong for £1.5 million

As just mentioned, Birmingham City had Tahith Chong on loan from Manchester United for the 2021/22 season.

It was the Dutchman’s third loan spell away from Old Trafford, with other spells coming at Werder Bremen and Belgian side Club Brugge.

So, when he joined the Blues, he would have hoped it would have been a chance to show Man United what he can do in English football.

Chong did impress, but instead of him going back and playing for Manchester United, the Premier League side decided to sell the midfielder back to Birmingham.

Birmingham announced the signing of Chong towards the end of the 2022 summer transfer window, with it believed to have cost the club around £1.5 million.

Some could say it was a lot, given the midfielder had only played 16 games for Man United throughout his time with the club.

But, either way, Birmingham were happy to have the Dutchman with them on a permanent contract, and they would have expected him to be at the club a lot longer than it turned out.

Birmingham City’s Tahith Chong deal made them money, but it could have been different

Birmingham City signing Tahith Chong for a fee of £1.5 million was good business for the club, given his ability and what he could bring to the club.

The Blues got the midfielder on a five-year contract, so they were hoping it was going to be a player that was with them for the long term.

His first season with the Championship side after signing on a permanent basis was very good, as he started 35 of the 38 games he played, during which he scored four goals and chipped in with five assists, as per Sofascore.com.

The winger averaged a goal every 715 minutes of football, and he was always trying to make his mark in front of goal, with 1.5 shots per game and 0.5 of them being on target. Chong could have further enhanced his goals, as his goal conversion was only 7% and he did miss four big chances.

But what he may have lacked in front of goal, he did make up for it with his creative ability. The midfielder created five big chances for his teammates, which helped him collect 1.2 key passes and resulted in him grabbing the number of assists he did, per Sofascore.com.

So, for a first season under his belt, it wasn’t a bad start for Chong, and Birmingham would have hoped it was only going to get better from the player.

So, when, in the 2023 summer transfer window, Premier League newsboys Luton Town made it clear they wanted to sign Chong, Birmingham were probably taken aback.

The Blues were unable to resist, and in the end, they sold the former Manchester United man to Luton in a deal believed to be worth £4 million.

Birmingham were able to make a significant profit on a player they only had at the club for a season, but they will be disappointed in how his time at the club went.

They signed Chong thinking he could be part of their team for the next few years, and they would be able to thrive from his talent.

But they only got it for a season, so it will always be a case of what if, and the question would be, was getting a profit on the player worth it instead of keeping hold of the talent.

Chong will have been keen on the move, as he got to play Premier League football, but you wonder what could have been achieved if the pair stuck it out a little longer.