What Jay Stansfield said when he first signed for Birmingham City - He's not looked back | OneFootball

Football League World looks back in time to Jay Stansfield's first words after starting his Birmingham City career

Birmingham City sent shockwaves throughout League One and beyond last summer with the ambitious deadline-day acquisition of Jay Stansfield, who returned to St Andrews @ Knighthead Park in an eight-figure deal.

Backed by lavish owners Knighthead, Blues did not shy away from flexing their financial muscles upon their third-tier peers and signed the likes of Christoph Klarer, Alfie May and Willum Willumsson, though Stansfield was very much the crown jewel of an otherworldly summer transfer window by the division's standards.

Stansfield, of course, spent the 2023/24 term on loan with Birmingham from Fulham and his performances did enough to convince Birmingham to shell out an astounding initial fee, reported to be £15 million, with Stansfield also signing a seven-year contract to complete a deal that blew the League One transfer record out of the water.

Stansfield has not looked back since and Birmingham's investment is on course to be vindicated in the years to come, but what did the England youth international say upon first arriving in the blue-and-white quarters of the Second City?

Football League World takes a closer look...

Jay Stansfield's first words after rejoining Birmingham City last summer

Stansfield was delighted to join Birmingham on loan nearly two summers ago.

In the striker's own words, he was "buzzing" after completing the move, and was encouraged by the style of play of then-manager John Eustace.

Speaking to Blues' official website upon signing, Stansfield said: "I am buzzing.

"It has been a long time coming. I have been in contact with a lot of people in the last three or four weeks and I made the decision to come here.

"It is a very family club and I can't wait to get started. I think this is a big club and a club that is going on the up.

"I spoke to the gaffer and what he drills into the team and the way he likes to play suits me massively.

"Being in the middle of the country is close to London, close to home. I am quite a big family man and I like having my family around me, so it is perfect for them to be able to come up and watch the games and for me to be able to go home and see them still.

"I hope to develop into a better player. [I hope to] become stronger and be able to keep up with the physical demands of the game, but also to come here and help the Blues do as well as they can do, finish as high in the table as possible.

"I want to get as many goals and assists as possible."

Jay Stansfield's Birmingham City career

The young striker spent a productive campaign on loan with Birmingham before signing permanently last summer. He was unable to prevent Blues' relegation from the Championship but enjoyed a stellar individual campaign by scoring 12 league goals, winning all five end-of-season awards in the process.

Stansfield has flourished sealing his return to Birmingham, too. As expected, the ex-Fulham forward has been a force to be reckoned with in League One and has scored more than 20 goals across all competitions.

His haul of four goals from five games helped Blues to the EFL Trophy final, where they lost out in surprising fashion to Peterborough United in a 2-0 defeat at Wembley, but he has exhibited fine form in the league too, and is a massive reason why Birmingham won the League One title with six games to spare.

Stansfield has gone from strength to strength under Chris Davies and, still aged just 22, is only going to get even better. That's extremely exciting for Birmingham, who will hope he is the man to inspire them back to the top-flight and even further.