Birmingham City garnered a reputation for being big spenders during the summer, entering League One very much as a big fish in a small pond.
16 new faces would end up joining Chris Davies’ ever-growing camp, including one notable deal which saw Jay Stansfield return to St. Andrew’s for an eye-watering £20m, after he lit up the Championship for the Blues on loan even during their relegation woes.
However, splashing the cash isn’t just reserved for this chapter in Birmingham’s story, with the West Midlands outfit prone to splurging out excessive amounts when still competing in the second tier.
Sunjic’s transfer to Birmingham
Ivan Sunjic arrived at Birmingham as a major buy back in 2019, leaving behind his native Croatia for a new opportunity in England, costing the Blues a significant £6.3m fee in the process.
This move would ultimately feel like a waste of money when Sunjic departed five years later, with the ex-Dinamo Zagreb man showing signs of his class in patches, but always held back by playing in a Birmingham side constantly teetering on the edge of relegation down to League One.
Sunjic racked up more managers than goals at St. Andrew’s, having seen a staggering nine head coaches enter and exit the dug-out in the West Midlands during his 173-game spell with the club, registering seven goals and six assists along the way.
It’s fair to say, fast forwarding to the present day, the likes of Stansfield are more than justifying their obscene price-tag over the costly Croat, with the former Fulham ace having bagged three goals already in a Blues shirt on his return.
It would end up being a sorry end to Sunjic’s Birmingham career this summer, with the relegated outfit allowing the 27-year-old to leave the building on a free transfer, as Cypriot side Paphos gambled on the former £6.3m man’s services.
Davies’ men were likely just glad to get Sunjic off their books, as they began their mass overhaul of the squad in the busy transfer window, with the one-time Croatia senior international still worth way less than his previous high price, despite settling in well to his new surroundings so far.
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Sunjic’s transfer value in 2024
The statement Blues buy has seen his value collapse to £674k playing out in Cyprus, according to Football Transfers.
That’s way off the £6.3m Birmingham splashed out on the midfielder in 2019, with a lot of regret now on the end of the third-tier giants that they ended up coughing up such an excessive amount.
| Sunjic’s falling transfer value over the years | |
|---|---|
| Date | Value |
| October 2024 | £670k |
| August 2024 | £0 |
| October 2023 | £2m |
| February 2023 | £5m |
| July 2019 | £6m |
| Sourced by Football Transfers | |
Across the course of his Birmingham stay, Sunjic saw his value fall more and more, with the 27-year-old worth just £1.6m last October, before moving on for nothing recently.
There will be an annoyance on the end of Davies’ men that they couldn’t get a fee out of Sunjic when he did leave the building, but the absence of their former midfield dud hasn’t been felt whatsoever in the squad now, with Tomoki Iwata and Paik Seung-Ho striking up a formidable partnership in central midfield for the promotion chasers so far this campaign.
Seung-Ho has even won himself a call-up to the South Korean national team, as the ambitious Blues eye up an immediate return to the Championship.
At least in the here and now, Birmingham’s lavish spending looks to be justified, away from splashing out the cash on the likes of Sunjic who have already been forgotten about in St. Andrew’s quarters.
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