Jay Stansfield must love fresh Birmingham City, Joe Gelhardt twist | OneFootball

The Leeds United forward's immediate future appears to be decided, and it's a move which could benefit Blues' prized asset

Since re-signing for Birmingham City from Fulham in August 2024, there has been plenty of focus on the career of Jay Stansfield, as well as his future potential.

After impressing on loan at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park in 2023/24, the England youth international was the subject of Blues' club-record transfer fee at the end of Chris Davies' first transfer window in charge.

Since then, an array of his performances in League One, during an equally record-breaking season for Birmingham as a whole, as well as in the second tier have been analysed, and to an extent, scrutinised by those away from St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park.

Even though Stansfield penned a seven-year contract two summers ago, he has become the subject of transfer speculation throughout this summer window, which has led to a mix of opinions.

However, there will be no doubt in the eyes of many that he will be pleased with recent transfer developments involving Leeds United's Joe Gelhardt, whilst also relaying his own transfer stance.

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Blues' attacking department has already been reshuffled ahead of the new season, with Luis Vazquez, moving from Anderlecht, last month, whilst Kyogo Furuhashi departed for LA Galaxy after a disastrous 12-month spell.

It was then claimed that Gelhardt, who had spent two loan spells with Hull City and saw his 15 goals help the Tigers return to the Premier League in May, was on Davies' radar, although a deal between themselves and Leeds was not said to be close.

However, after Wrexham expressed an interest in the 24-year-old, it was initially claimed that Birmingham were still above the Red Dragons in the race, but it later emerged that Gelhardt was close to a St. Andrew's move, which now looks dead in the water amid a highly-anticipated reunion with Hull set to be finalised to the tune of a £6.5m package.

Joe Gelhardt could have presented a problem for Jay Stansfield at Birmingham City

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Throughout their relatively short senior careers to-date, both Stansfield and Gelhardt have played in an array of attacking positions, and at times, Davies and the former of the two forwards have been criticised for not potentially knowing where he is best utilised.

As such, this could have presented a major dilemma for the Blues boss, who would also have to decide which of the other centre-forwards to utilise as a focal point given Vazquez's arrival, the exit talk surrounding Marvin Ducksch and the promising form shown by August Priske in recent weeks.

In terms of goal contributions, both Gelhardt and Stansfield amassed 17 overall last term, featuring for two sides at opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of possession and chance creation.

Gelhardt was able to hit 10 goals by December, and hit a slight lull after returning from a mid-season injury, whilst for some, the jury is still out on Stansfield after he was only able to score twice after 22nd November, which will need to improve if Birmingham have any chance of making the top eight.

Jay Stansfield's fresh clarity will provide Birmingham City with short-term relief

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As previously mentioned, Stansfield has been the subject of strong transfer talk in recent weeks, and the latest club to be linked were Midlands rivals, Coventry City.

It was also claimed that Blues were 'willing' to listen to offers for the striker between now and September 1st, but those hoping he can build on a solid, but not spectacular term last term out will have been relieved to hear his perspective on such developments.

"I don't really look at it [speculation], to be honest, I made my feelings clear of Birmingham and how I feel about Birmingham, and I don't really listen to that," he said.

"Nothing's been done about anything, so you see a lot of rumours going around here and there, but I'm a Birmingham City player and that's my main focus for the season and - like I said – I've made my feelings clear of how I feel about the club."

Chris Davies will hope that better is to come from Jay Stansfield

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Ahead of the new season, Davies has spoken about how he hopes a refined tactical approach can improve Blues' consistency and output across the board, which includes a more direct style.

This way of playing brought about an unbeaten end to last season, and momentum must continue if the club are serious in their ambitions this season, despite only bringing in five signings so far.

And whilst Davies hopes more goals will come from set-pieces, he hopes that more are notched right throughout the team, stating: We needed to score 70-odd goals really to be in among those top teams last season.

"If six or seven of those can come from set-pieces and two or three can come from counter-attacks, then you only need another two or three from your general football. So it is absolutely doable."

Therefore, if Stansfield was able to produce a best-ever season this year in front of goal, it could go a long way to aiding the hopes of his manager and silence the critics.