Exclusive: Birmingham City and Wrexham AFC in the Premier League by 2030? Sky Sports pundit his say | OneFootball

David Prutton looks ahead to the next few years for the Blues and the Red Dragons

Former Leeds United man and now Sky Sports pundit David Prutton believes both Birmingham City and Wrexham have as good a chance as anyone to earn promotion to the Premier League in the next five years.

The pair are currently vying for promotion in League One as it stands, with the Blues sitting high and mighty with a 12-point buffer on the sides behind them, while the Red Dragons sit third - level on points with second-placed Wycombe Wanderers.

Both have made no secret of their lofty ambitions for the future, and have the financial backing to challenge in the second tier if and when they get there.

Anything can happen in football though, but Prutton expects them to be part of a competitive field in the Championship where the Premier League is the ultimate goal for everyone involved.

David Prutton’s Birmingham City, Wrexham Premier League stance

Birmingham and Wrexham have made their intentions clear that they want to progress as far up the football pyramid as they can in the next few years, with both having the means to do so.

Tom Wagner’s Knighthead Group have bankrolled a Blues side that have taken the third tier by storm this season, while the Hollywood backing at Wrexham has seen them go in search of a third successive promotion in the current campaign.

As a result, there will be more than a few wondering if the pari can go all the way to the top before the decade is out, although Prutton is unsure what the future holds for any side, let alone the pari in question.

Speaking exclusively to FLW about whether either could be in the Premier League by 2030, the EFL pundit said: “I have absolutely no idea! Five years ago we were walking round in masks and not able to talk to people, so who knows where we are going to be.

“These two teams… Birmingham are seemingly on course to get into the Championship, Wrexham are not too far behind, but nowhere near as certain at this moment in time.

“Both have as decent a chance as any other team they are going to come up against in the Championship. Both are on financially sound footing with the take-overs, both look to be ambitious, highly-motivated clubs.”

Championship will be a much different test for Birmingham City and Wrexham

Wrexham’s rise through the football pyramid has been stratospheric over recent seasons, with the Welsh side’s backing from Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney giving them an advantage over a number of sides in the lower reaches of the game.

The Red Dragons got themselves out of the National League in the 22/23 campaign, before immediately finding themselves battling at the top of League Two, with a squad assembled that wouldn’t look out of place in the division above.

That proved to be the case, as they are now firmly in the race for League One promotion after a few key additions to the squad, with the Championship seemingly within touching distance.

Birmingham’s return to the second tier also seems just weeks away, with City needing a maximum of 16 points from their final ten league games to assure a return after just one season away.

The Blues will know full well that the Championship is a completely different kettle of fish though, with plenty of former Premier League teams harbouring hopes of getting back to the top flight, and big-money fees being spent left, right and centre.

The 25/26 campaign will be no different, as will the four years after that, and Prutton believes that step-up will prove to be a lot harder than a lot of people think.

He continued: “Show me a team who is not exactly the same as that in the Championship! Yes, some are in less sound financial states, some will have better players, some will have a deeper history at the very top level.

"So going into that, the prediction for future is that I have absolutely no idea, but they have as good a chance as any of the multitude of very good football clubs that stand between them and the Premier League right now.”