Birmingham City urged to follow in Middlesbrough's footsteps and explore £6m+ Brighton deal | OneFootball

With Middlesbrough splashing the cash on homegrown young talents this summer, Birmingham City are being told to follow their lead

Birmingham City's opening period of the 2026-27 Championship was anything but boring, with plenty of goals going in at both ends of the pitch in their matches.

Blues scored 12 times and conceded 11 goals in their first eight league contests, but only two of those were converted into winning efforts.

Drawing five of those matches has been the big problem though - converting just two of those into victories would've put Chris Davies' side in the top four of the division going into the first extended international break rather than 10th.

One player that arrived at St. Andrew's over the summer as part of the club's recruitment drive was a familiar face, with Brighton goalkeeper James Beadle joining on a second loan deal.

James Beadle price-tag claim made - should Birmingham City pursue permanent move?

Action Images

The towering 6ft 7in stopper appeared 35 times in the Championship for City last season, conceding 41 goals and keeping eight clean sheets, but he had to wait for his breakthrough into Davies' starting 11, with Ryan Allsop starting the season in-between the sticks.

Davies clearly saw something in Beadle to bring him back to the club though, despite only being 15th in the division when it came to the Goals Prevented stat and 13th in the Save Percentage stat, and at some point, a discussion on whether to pursue a permanent deal for the 22-year-old will have to be undertaken.

And FLW's City fan pundit Jason Moore believes that should Beadle continue to improve, having only really made one noticeable error so far this season, then he'll be worth a punt on a full-time basis - but it may cost a significant amount.

"I think that anyone that is a decent calibre of player that can go on to play Premier League football, the minimum you're going to have to be spending is like £10 million," Jason told FLW.

"Look at what Middlesbrough have had to pay for Lankshear and Vitek - you just know what you get with them.

"With Beadle, if he ups his game and has a serious season, you're looking at minimum £10 million I think I'd pay. Right here, right now, I think I'd be paying £6 million-£7 million, because there is a reason why he is consistently in the England under-21's, there's a reason why Brighton invested money in him, there's a reason why Blues have brought him in twice.

"People see something in him, and people within the football world that are a lot smarter than me and the average fickle football fan that see something in him and think he's quality."

Action Images

Birmingham could pursue a permanent deal for Beadle in January if they wanted and sign him halfway through his loan move, but it would be more likely the summer where that would come into play, when they know what division they will be playing in.

It may be a case that Beadle has a future at Brighton after Bart Verbruggen potentially departs, but even if Birmingham consider moving for the goalie, then there may be other positions needing priority instead further up the pitch.

"So maybe £6 million-£7 million to begin with, but if he has a serious season and he is quality, which to be fair bar the Middlesbrough error, he has been pretty solid so far, which is ironic to say as we haven't kept a clean sheet since the first game of the season," Jason added.

"Maybe £10 million if we were to go for him, but If I had to spend that money elsewhere, then I'd be spending it up top, because we can't hit a barn door currently.

"I love Priske, but I need to see more, he's not scoring. Jay, I need to see more, not scoring. If I had the option of signing Beadle permanently or spending £5 million-£10 million on Mehmeti or Segecic, I'd be going and getting them, no doubt about it."

James Beadle will only get better - Birmingham City must capitalise if they can

As mentioned, Brighton may have a plan for Beadle to be integrated into their first-team if he develops well enough, having already sold a younger goalie in the form of Carl Rushworth to Coventry City this past summer.

That could hamper any Birmingham plans to sign him permanently, but if there's a small chance, then Blues and owner Tom Wagner have to take it.

Beadle is still showing in the middle of the Championship pack for Save Percentage but has improved to seventh in the standings for Goals Prevented currently, which shows improvement, and he's still very early into his professional journey for a goalkeeper.

Should natural improvement come, then it makes Birmingham making a full-time bid for Beadle a no-brainer, and they should have the funds to move even for £10 million maximum - that is however if Brighton are willing to strike a deal.