"£20m plus" - Claim made on Jay Stansfield's transfer situation at Birmingham City | OneFootball

Football League World's resident Birmingham City pundit made it clear who is the most valuable player on the Blues' books

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…

It has been claimed that clubs would have to pay over £20million to have chance of prising Jay Stansfield away from Birmingham City this summer.

The Blues turned heads in the build-up to the 2024/25 League One season when they announced the capture of Stansfield from Premier League Fulham for a reported £15 million.

Birmingham’s investment appears to have paid off, with the striker nabbing 16 goals in 27 league appearances as the Blues sit atop the League One table.

Birmingham City’s Jay Stansfield value claim made

Stansfield arrived at St Andrew’s as a known quantity to Birmingham City fans, thanks to a loan stint during the 2023/24 season where he scored 12 goals in 43 Championship appearances for the Blues.

Following relegation from the Championship last term, Birmingham decided to heavily invest in overhauling their playing staff.

The signing of Stansfield for a League One record fee was as much a statement as it was a reinforcement to Birmingham’s striking options, who had also drafted in forwards Lyndon Dykes and Alfie May for decent fees from QPR and Charlton respectively.

Football League World's Birmingham City pundit Mike Gibbs believes the striker’s value eclipses every other player in the Blues’ current squad.

That is in part to the huge transfer fee paid to Fulham for Stansfield’s services, as well as the length of the striker’s contract at St Andrew’s.

As well as convincing the 22-year-old to drop down two leagues, Birmingham managed to secure Stansfield’s future until the end of the 2030/31 season – with a whopping seven-year deal.

When asked who he thinks will be Birmingham’s most valuable player this upcoming transfer window, Mike only had one answer.

Mike shared: “I think this is an easy one in terms of who is the most valuable player - it’s Jay Stansfield.

“Obviously we paid a lot of money for him in the summer, somewhere between £5million and £15million - I don’t think the actual amount is really known.

“He's still under a good contract, very young, he’s had another good season.

“For me, I think if a club really wanted him and came in for him, I think we could be demanding £20 million plus to be brutally honest with you.”

Star striker Jay Stansfield will not be for sale

Despite the claim of Stansfield being worth at least £20million, Mike believes Birmingham City will not be tempted into selling their talisman this summer.

FLW’s Blues pundit stated that it would take an outrageous bid to even bring Birmingham to the table for negotiations, with the League One leaders planning for a future with Stansfield leading the line.

He restarted: “But I can't really see us selling him, to be brutally honest.

“We've obviously invested in him for the long term.

“So it would take a huge bid, probably much more than that to be brutally honest with you.

“That being said, if things changed, I do think he's worth that on the open market.”