Birmingham City must have Coventry City transfer regret - Frank Lampard is laughing | OneFootball

Blues will certainly look at Ephron Mason-Clark's rise with a sense of envy

Birmingham City's ambitions under the ownership of Knighthead Capital Management have been well-documented, with the American investment group certainly attracting a lot of outside attention towards the club.

Tom Wagner may not have got every decision at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park right since his initial takeover of the club in July 2023, but that doesn't take anything away from how popular he has become with Blues fans in the past three years.

Most of such popularity is down to the American's transparency and continued investment in many areas of the club which were previously unseen, and that has since gone on to reach record-breaking levels in many ways.

However, whilst plenty of hype had been generated in this part of the West Midlands at the beginning of the club's 150th anniversary season after they were promoted from League One as record-breaking champions, the club haven't exactly lived up to the pre-season expectations which many set out.

Such expectancy came off the back of yet another eye-catching recruitment drive under the management of Chris Davies, 12 months after the 41-year-old managed to see his club complete a record-breaking deal to sign Jay Stansfield from Fulham on a permanent basis.

However, Blues haven't been able to consistently showcase the performance levels required to make the play-offs or even achieve promotion altogether, something which Coventry City have been building towards for many years, and have now finally achieved under Frank Lampard.

The former Chelsea and England midfielder's impact across the A45 has also been well-documented, and he will certainly be grateful that the Sky Blues' local rivals weren't successful in a high-profile transfer pursuit shortly after Wagner's takeover was confirmed.

Birmingham City missed out on the chance of signing Ephron Mason-Clark from Peterborough United

After a previous lack of investment in the playing squad at St. Andrew's, it was no surprise that plenty of excitement was built in the summer of 2023 when Wagner completed his takeover.

John Eustace, of course, was still Blues boss at the time, and was able to bring in a plethora of new faces to the club on permanent or loan deals, which included the aforementioned Stansfield's initial loan from Craven Cottage.

Deals for wingers in the form of Oliver Burke, Koji Myoshi, Keshi Anderson and Siriki Dembele were also completed, but they also came after Birmingham missed out on the signing of Ephron Mason-Clark from Peterborough United.

The London-born winger had made a name for himself at Barnet before agreeing a three-year deal at the Weston Homes Stadium, where his upward trajectory continued in the 2022/23 season, despite Posh suffering dramatic play-off heartbreak at the hands of Sheffield Wednesday.

Whilst producing 12 goals and eight assists in his first 50 matches at League One and professional level, it was reported in April 2023 that Blues had eyed a move for the left-wing ace alongside various other Championship sides, although a deal would fail to materialise and Blues were eventually relegated to the third tier themselves the following summer.

Frank Lampard and Coventry City will love Birmingham City's failed Ephron Mason-Clark pursuit

There are, of course, no guarantees that a player's career and a club's own journey would take the same path if they agreed a deal, but Coventry will be forever grateful they secured the 26-year-old's services for a fee in excess of £4m in February 2024 under Mark Robins.

However, it has been Lampard who has got the best out of the forward in CV6 since his arrival in November 2024, in particular during a campaign which has seen the club return to the Premier League for the first time in 25 years.

As well as earning his first international caps for Jamaica, Mason-Clark has been one of City's standout performers, racking up a high double-figure tally of goal contributions, including a brace in the 5-1 win over Portsmouth which secured the Championship title on April 21st.

Given his performance levels, Lampard was stunned that the Sky Blues ace wasn't included in the EFL Championship Team of the Season, stating: “How that boy is not in the league’s team of the year is unreal.

“We’ve won the league well and Ephron has been absolutely a star man.

It is also high praise indeed that a player of Lampard's ability has full confidence that Mason-Clark can seamlessly make the step-up to the Premier League, whilst Blues will hope to potentially join their Midlands rivals this time next year, as well as overtake them over time.

However, there will also be a huge sense of transfer regret given the winger's remarkable rise.