Birmingham City urged to offload 'lightweight' player as exit talk emerges - it's 'just not worked' | OneFootball

Willum Willumsson has been heavily linked with a departure from Blues

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Birmingham City have been backed to offload the services of Icelandic international playmaker, Willum Thor Willumsson, as speculation over a potential return to the Dutch Eredivisie with NEC Nijmegen surfaces.

It has been an intriguing short-term transfer window as far as Blues are concerned, as manager Chris Davies and owner Tom Wagner continue their pursuit of the play-offs in what remains of the current Championship season.

Despite confirming the signings of 14 new players - either on a permanent or temporary basis - across the previous summer window, the club have conducted a sizeable squad reshuffle since the beginning of January, with there now just a matter of days until the winter window closes at 7PM on February 2nd.

Birmingham have now completed the signings of five further players to bolster Davies' options across several departments. And, as has often been the case under the ownership of Knighthead Capital Management, the majority have been rather eye-catching.

Indeed, all of Kai Wagner, Jhon Solis, Ibrahim Osman, August Priske and Carlos Vicente have put pen-to-paper on initial short or long-term deals, with Vicente snubbing interest from Dutch giants, Ajax, in order to move to St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park for a reported £7m.

Such developments have also come after Football League World exclusively revealed at the start of the month that as many as eight players could leave this part of the West Midlands in order to source regular and much-needed first-team minutes, as well as facilitating the aforementioned arrivals.

So far, that exact number of players have departed in the form of Alfons Sampsted, Eiran Cashin, Dion Sanderson, Marc Leonard, Emil Hansson, Keshi Anderson, Lewis Koumas and Lyndon Dykes.

FLW also revealed that Willumsson was another player who would be free to depart the club if a sufficient offer came Blues' way, and that could still certainly be the case.

After an inconsistent season for Birmingham as a collective side, as well as Willumsson's individual predicament, Football League World's Birmingham City fan pundit, Jason Moore, believes any form of departure for the 27-year-old in the window's final days would be beneficial to all involved.

Birmingham City backed to offload £3.5m midfielder Willum Willumsson amid "lightweight" claim

The arrival of the 18-time Icelandic international in the summer of 2024 came just weeks after the Blues board made a pledge that a "Championship ready squad" would be assembled in order to achieve a first-time promotion from League One, before instantly becoming a competent second tier side.

Whilst such feats have happened to a fair enough extent, with Birmingham currently just five points outside the play-offs in the Championship after breaking a whole host of records last term, Willumsson's trajectory at St. Andrew's hasn't necessarily followed the same path.

The £3.5m signing from Go Ahead Eagles did make a strong first impression, though, with several goal contributions and solid performances across the opening weeks of the club's League One title charge.

However, only three of his 12 league goal contributions would come after January 2025, which included his final two goals of the campaign against Wigan Athletic and Mansfield Town, albeit they were three-and-a-half months apart.

Willumsson has also been able to nail down a starting berth this term, featuring in Davies' initial lineups on just six occasions in all competitions, as well as enduring a three-month absence for unspecified reasons.

It was revealed that Go Ahead Eagles were offered the chance to re-sign the playmaker who previously scored 15 times in 62 games for the club. However, NEC Nijmegen have also expressed their interest as 'Eniesee' look to add to their midfield ranks, a move which Moore believes should take place.

"As long as he knows his future doesn't lie at Blues, I think, short-term loan, permanent move, whatever it is, get him off the books," he told FLW.

"He's another player from League One that's just not worked. They thought they were building a 'Championship-ready' team, and it's not worked.

"In League One, he looked OK to begin with, got injured and just hasn't been the same player," Moore added.

"I don't think English football quite suits him. For someone who's 6"4, he's so lightweight and weak," he claimed.

"It's the best move for him, as his career will just keep going downward if he stays in England, and Blues fans have made their feelings perfectly clear about this.

"(He needs to) get back to Holland, where he was doing well, and get his career back on track, because English football and Birmingham City aren't (suited) for him."

Willum Willumsson will be frustrated his Birmingham City spell hasn't worked out

Willumsson will be as frustrated as anybody that his spell in England hasn't worked out, and at this stage, Blues cannot afford to carry excess baggage with them in terms of players who will not receive first-team minutes.

According to ESTIMATED figures from Capology, the midfielder is earning a base wage of £10,000 per week at St. Andrew's. Whilst this isn't the largest salary said to be collected by any of Davies' players, it is still a respectable sum of cash that could be re-invested into other departments.

He is also not the only player who has failed to adapt to the rigours of League One and the Championship, with the aforementioned Hansson enduring a similar fate at St. Andrew's as well as a previous loan spell with Blackpool, before the winger returned to Holland with Excelsior Rotterdam.