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Emile Heskey believes Birmingham City will find themselves in the Premier League within the next five years.

Former Birmingham City forward Emile Heskey believes Birmingham City will be a Premier League club in the next five years under the ownership of Tom Wagner.

Buying a majority stake in the club back in May 2023, the American financier’s plans for the club stumbled when Blues were relegated from the Championship.

But Birmingham have since made their way back to the second tier, smashing the record League One points tally under Chris Davies as they resoundingly lifted the third-tier title this term.

On their return to the Championship, the West Midlands outfit are expected to be significantly backed financially by Wagner as they search for a return to the Premier League as quickly as possible, but Blues will have to first build a squad that can compete in such a relentless 46-game campaign.

The summer transfer window will be crucial for setting their stall and giving supporters an idea of what to expect from this campaign, but the first target will be to make sure they steer clear of the relegation trapdoor.

As Blues continually look to build their squad that can compete towards the upper ends of the second tier table, Emile Heskey has outlined where he thinks Birmingham will be in the future under Wagner’s ownership.

Emile Heskey backs Birmingham City to reach the Premier League in the next five years

Speaking exclusively to Football League World (via Poker Scout), ex-Birmingham City forward Emile Heskey, who netted 16 goals from 78 appearances for Blues between 2004 and 2006, has backed the club to make a return to the top-flight within the next five years under Tom Wagner.

When asked about Birmingham’s chances of promotion next season, Heskey said: “They’ve got a wonderful manager (in Chris Davies), I’ve seen little bits of him at Leicester when he was working under Brendan Rodgers.

“Back-to-back promotions is very tough, of course, they will have aspirations to do that. For me, they’re ahead of their schedule, and I think the next five years they’ll be looking to be in the Premier League and establishing themselves and staying in there, pretty much like what Brentford and Brighton of done, something along those lines where you’re staying in there.”

Birmingham City have every chance of success under Tom Wagner

There’s ambitious plans for Birmingham City under Tom Wagner, involving the American leading a £3 billion investment of private money to transform the former Wheels site in the east side of the city into a new stadium for the club.

Meanwhile, significant financial resources will be made available to attack the summer transfer window, as Wagner targets a return to the Premier League by 2026.

That does seem to be a very optimistic view, and it would be surprising to see Birmingham catapult themselves into the Premier League by achieving back-to-back promotions.

Instead, Blues should be focusing on building and developing a squad that can first be competitive in the Championship and then use their powerful financial resources to target promotion a season or two after once they’ve laid the original foundations in place.