"Had to be done" - Jay Stansfield opens up on Birmingham City pressure after £15m switch | OneFootball

Jay Stansfield signed for Birmingham City last summer in a £15m deal

Jay Stansfield has opened up on the pressure of the price tag it took for Birmingham City to sign him from Fulham last summer.

The forward made the switch on transfer deadline day after a protracted saga surrounding his future.

It was reported by Sky Sports that the deal cost the Blues up to £15 million, a record fee for a team in League One.

Stansfield had previously spent the prior campaign on loan with the Midlands outfit, with the team suffering relegation from the Championship.

Stansfield opens up on £15m price tag pressure

Stansfield has claimed that he doesn’t feel the pressure at all despite the hefty fee it took to sign him.

He believes that it was just the cost of completing the deal, and that he’s now happy to be back with the club and scoring goals.

“It doesn’t faze me at all,” said Stansfield, via Will Brazier’s YouTube channel.

“It’s one of them things where it had to be done to get me here, and I’m glad to be here now and just happy to be scoring goals and being back at Blues.”

The 22-year-old has scored 12 goals from 17 appearances in League One so far this season, with Birmingham aiming to gain promotion back to the Championship immediately.

Chris Davies’ side are in the mix for a top two spot, and will be relying on Stansfield to remain fit and firing into the second half of the campaign.

Birmingham City recent form

Birmingham are unbeaten in their last nine league games, which has seen them climb up to first in the League One table.

Davies’ side have won seven and drawn two in this run, moving ahead of Wycombe Wanderers in the process.

The Blues also have two games in hand on their automatic promotion rivals, putting them in a comfortable spot in the standings.

Birmingham also progressed to the fourth round of the FA Cup with a 2-1 win over Lincoln City.

Stansfield has performed well so far for Birmingham

It’s been a positive season for both Birmingham and Stansfield, with the team looking primed for a Championship return.

However, the real pressure of Stansfield’s price tag will come when the club is back in the second tier.

A £15 million fee is a sizable one even for a lot of Championship sides, so he will have to perform to a high level there to justify that kind of fee.

He had a record of 12 goals in 43 games last season, which he will need to improve on if he’s to stand out as a £15 million calibre player in the future.