Birmingham City were on the money with £775k transfer agreement | OneFootball

Alfie May signed for Birmingham City in the summer and is certainly proving his worth in League One.

There is a huge expectation at Birmingham City this season to win automatic promotion at the very least.

Blues suffered a shock relegation from the Championship last season after they failed to recover from their bad form under Wayne Rooney and were unable to pick up any form of consistency.

Now that the side are in League One, there is only one goal in mind: automatic promotion. Anything less will be considered a failure for Birmingham given their finances compared to the rest of the division.

The £15 million-plus signing of Jay Stansfield made all the headlines at the time as it was a figure never seen before in the third tier of English football, so the belief was that if they can afford to spend that much money on one player, they have no excuse not to earn promotion.

They made a number of international signings on top of that as head coach, Chris Davies, prepared for life in League One, with the likes of Willum Willumsson and Christoph Klarer arriving at St Andrew's over the summer.

They also signed one of the best strikers in League One to give themselves the best chance of success.

Birmingham City purchased Alfie May for a relatively good price

Alfie May has become well-known over the last five years or so for being one of the best goalscorers in the EFL's lower tiers. It was his spell with Cheltenham Town that really put him on the map, as he scored 43 goals over the course of two seasons before earning a move to Charlton Athletic.

May spent just one season with Charlton, scoring 23 League One goals before departing for recently relegated Birmingham City last summer.

The striker was turning 31 when he arrived at St Andrew's, but given his goal record over the last few seasons, his reported price tag of £775,000 seemed completely reasonable to a club like Birmingham and the finances that they possess.

With the amount of money they spent on their squad in the summer, the signing of May can actually be considered a bargain, especially with the way he is currently playing.

Alfie May's 2024/25 campaign so far

It has come as no surprise to Alfie May continue banging in the goals in League One, as he is now playing for the best side in the division without a doubt, meaning he is being given even more opportunities in front of goal.

Competition is tough in attack, with the likes of Jay Stansfield, Lyndon Dykes, and Lukas Jutkiewicz all eyeing up that number nine role. Despite that, Davies has managed to accommodate for May, as he has started 18 League One games so far this season, scoring 10 goals and assisting four.

It was thought that, with the club signing a number of big-name strikers, May would struggle to keep up the momentum he had gained over the last few years, but he certainly has not struggled as he looks as dominant as ever in front of goal.

In Birmingham's last match away to Wigan, they picked up a huge 3-0 victory, with May grabbing a brace on the day to take his tally to 10.

In hindsight, that reported fee of £775k