"I’d be very excited" - Exclusive: Don Goodman reacts to big Birmingham City plans | OneFootball

EFL pundit Don Goodman has praised Tom Wagner and said he would be 'very, very excited' if he was a Birmingham City supporter.

As Birmingham City prepare for a busy summer transfer window in order to try and challenge for back-to-back promotions, the Blues are also remaining just ambitious off the pitch as well as on it.

Blues co-owner and chairman Tom Wagner remains in discussions with local government over the planning and execution of the proposed Sports Quarter, which will boast a new 62,000-seater stadium for City as well as other sporting facilities and commercial and residential spaces.

Knighthead Capital Management, the investment firm that Wagner is co-CEO and co-founder of, have been purchasing land in the area that was formerly known as Birmingham Wheels.

It has been reported that the company have spent £3 billion on the purchasing of this land, highlighting a major financial commitment from Wagner and Knighthead to the club.

EFL pundit Don Goodman has exclusively told Football League World that if he was a Blues supporter at the moment then he’d “be very, very excited.”

What Don Goodman says about Wagner and Birmingham

Wagner has been outspoken about his ambition for Birmingham and the amount of money now put down for land would suggest a major commitment to the project, which is something Goodman is sure of:

“I’ve got no doubt about the ambition of Tom Wagner for Birmingham City.

“The plans have been there from the very start in terms of the proposed new stadium, the development of the infrastructure around that stadium and the amenities of the local area.

“It’s all very, very ambitious and very exciting if you’re a Birmingham City supporter.”

As Wagner and Birmingham aim for another promotion next season, Goodman believes it is an exciting time to be a ‘Bluenose’.

“I have no doubt about his commitment to taking Birmingham City to the Premier League.

“How quickly that can happen remains to be seen but if I was a Birmingham City fan, I’d be very excited.”

Birmingham’s record-breaking season

Birmingham finished their 2024/25 campaign with a hard-fought 2-1 defeat of already relegated Cambridge United at the Abbey Stadium to take their points total to 111 from their 46 games.

That smashed the previous all-time EFL points tally of 106, which was set by Reading as the Royals won promotion to the Premier League in the 2005/06 season.

Chris Davies remains at the helm at St Andrews with a squad that appears capable already of being more than competitive in the second-tier, and the likelihood of further investment into the playing staff would suggest they are only going to be even better – potentially an automatic promotion challenger.

The Blues have already been linked with a move for out-of-contract Swansea City defender Harry Darling as well as Peterborough United’s departing Kwame Poku, among others, having already wrapped up a deal for Hannover defender Phil Neumann on a pre-contract agreement earlier this year.

Birmingham broke their club-record fee for Jay Stansfield last summer in what was a transfer window of heavy spending by Championship standard, let alone League One, and something similar this summer will put them in an excellent position to challenge for top-flight football once again.