Birmingham City set to seal Brighton and Hove Albion transfer agreement | OneFootball

The Blues are starting off their summer window in strong fashion.

Birmingham City are reportedly set to seal the loan signing of Brighton & Hove Albion goalkeeper James Beadle.

The expectation for this transfer window is the same as the last couple for Birmingham: plenty of wow signings.

Their first spending spree in League One, this time last year, ended up with them paying out £20-25 million in fees, smashing the league's transfer record multiple times, most namely when they brought in Jay Stansfield for a reported £12-15 million package, according to The Athletic.

Blues' ambitions haven't been dampened by the jump up to the Championship. In fact, club chairman Tom Wagner thinks that they will have as good a chance as any team, even those coming down from the top flight, to win promotion to the Premier League based on their expected revenue.

Ipswich Town, Leicester City and Southampton, the relegated clubs from England's first division, will reportedly have to compete with Birmingham, and Championship newcomers Wrexham, for players this summer, as per Sky Sports, with City already poised to secure the services of a top-20 talent.

Birmingham City set to sign James Beadle from Brighton

Beadle, Brighton's 20-year-old shot-stopper, is set to become the Midlands giants' first acquisition of this window, according to Alex Crook. Blues will reportedly sign him on loan, adding to what is already a fairly stacked goalkeeper's union at St Andrew's.

Sheffield Wednesday have had Beadle on loan for the past year-and-a-half before his last spell with the club finished at the end of the 2024/25 season. The England under-21 international was a key contributor to the Owls' miracle escape from relegation two campaigns ago, but lost his spot in Danny Rohl's first XI to Pierce Charles towards the conclusion of last term.

Birmingham already have Ryan Allsop and Bailey Peacock-Farrell to turn to between the sticks. The pair shared the goalkeeping responsibilities early in City's record-breaking 24/25 campaign but Allsop eventually emerged as the number one. He kept 20 clean sheets in 38 third tier matches.

Something has to give from James Beadle move

A keeper of Beadle's calibre and youth, and the club that he has come from, dictates that he probably hasn't agreed to join this blue wrecking machine as the back-up. All three of Birmingham's options in net are well versed in the Championship, so why would they go and get Beadle just to put him on the bench when they already have seemingly adequate options?

One of the permanently contracted glovesmen will probably have to find an opportunity some place else for the 25/26 season, and that will most likely be Peacock-Farrell. His game time was limited in League One. It doesn't look like it will improve with the signing of the 20-year-old.