Birmingham City ace may have serious transfer regret involving Sunderland - it's not Patrick Roberts | OneFootball

Tommy Doyle's loan stint at St. Andrew's hasn't gone according to script thus far

Throughout the course of the summer transfer window, Birmingham City made a number of eye-catching deals which followed a record-breaking campaign in League One last season.

Knighthead Capital Management have only continued to back manager Chris Davies in a bid to achieve a Premier League return as quickly as possible, despite the skepticism offered by outsiders who have assessed the ambitious and well-documented rebuilding job in this part of the West Midlands fronted by vocal owner, Tom Wagner.

The first steps of said rebuild culminated in a remarkable 111-point haul in the third tier, albeit a club-record fee to secure the services of Jay Stansfield in August 2024 made nothing but winning the title at an eventually proven 19-point canter would have been deemed a 'failure' of sorts by those unassociated with Blues.

Throughout the off-season, many comparisons were drawn between the squad already at Davies' disposal before any changes were made in the summer and that of Ipswich Town between 2022 and 2024, during a period where the Tractor Boys achieved back-to-back promotions into the Premier League under the management of Kieran McKenna.

Of course, the finances in terms of transfer fees and wages are currently far greater at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park than what they were during the aforementioned period at Portman Road, which led to the likes of Kyogo Furuhashi, Marvin Ducksch, Demarai Gray, Bright Osayi-Samuel and Patrick Roberts being just a handful of standout signings.

Another player who fell into said category was Tommy Doyle, who initially moved on loan from local rivals, Wolverhampton Wanderers. But, just two-and-a-half months into the season, the 24-year-old may be feeling a sense of serious transfer regret.

Birmingham City fended off strong Sunderland competition to secure Tommy Doyle's services

Doyle's prior predicament at Molineux was certainly one of intrigue, as he ended up outside of Vitor Pereira's plans, albeit the Portuguese's decision was down to a lack of physicality rather than technical brilliance, which has been well-documented, particularly at Championship level.

The former Manchester City man had made 50 Premier League appearances for Wolves under Gary O'Neil and Pereira, yet it was exclusively revealed by Football League World in June that Birmingham were to fend off competition from newly-promoted Sunderland in order to secure an initial temporary switch, with an option-to-buy included, that was later reported to be in the region of £10m.

Given the fact Doyle played such a key role in Sheffield United's promotion-winning season in 2022/23 under Paul Heckingbottom, during which he scored four times and posted seven assists as the Blades also reached the FA Cup semi-final, there was a major sense of hype from Bluenoses when the deal was confirmed, as he joined an already-impressive looking midfield which boasts the likes of Tomoki Iwata, Seung-ho Paik and Marc Leonard, albeit the latter was also the subject of transfer interest.

However, almost three months into the season, the ex-England youth international may have a major feeling of 'what could have been' when assessing his individual situation, as well as the predicaments of both Blues and the Black Cats.

Birmingham and Sunderland, of course, did broker a deal together in the summer, which was the loan agreement for the aforementioned Roberts.

The talented winger was deemed surplus to requirements upon Sunderland's promotion to the Premier League, having been a regular at the Stadium of Light up to that point, and he can't be the only Birmingham player to have a current tinge of regret involving the North East outfit.

Tommy Doyle is struggling for gametime at Birmingham City whilst Sunderland are flying in the Premier League

It's been an extremely contrasting beginning of the campaign for the two newly-promoted sides in their respective divisions, whilst expectation levels in pre-season couldn't have been more different.

Some expected Blues to blitz their way through the Championship, much to the recent disbelief of Davies, who is currently under pressure according to reports.

Despite the fact many Bluenoses are aware of the qualities Doyle would bring to the base of the 40-year-old's midfield, just a handful of starts will be a major cause of frustration for the deep-lying player, and only decreases the chances of the aforementioned option-to-buy being activated at the end of the season.

To his credit, Doyle showcased exactly why he should be viewed as a shoo-in within Blues' lineup with a solid performance in Saturday's 4-0 success over Portsmouth at St. Andrew's, during which he also picked up his first assist for the club as Iwata turned home his inswinging corner after 56 minutes.

It's rather easy to say in hindsight, especially when Sunderland broke the spending record for a newly-promoted side after parting with £161.7m on a raft of new players, with many also coming in midfield - including the vastly-experienced Granit Xhaka. But, Doyle could feel rather envious of those who have been a part of a remarkable start to the season at the Stadium of Light.

Regis Le Bris' side have followed up their dramatic play-off success against Sheffield United in May by flying out of the traps in the top-flight, which was only added to last weekend through a comeback success over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, as they now sit fifth, having taken 17 points from the first 27 available.

Of course, there is a long way to go in the season, but the weeks which have followed the aforementioned transfer saga have been far from ideal for the loanee.