Why Birmingham City signed Chinese midfielder still makes you wonder - It was a confusing one | OneFootball

Bernard Sun's move to St. Andrew's still remains a mystery to many

Prior to Knighthead Capital Management's well-documented takeover in the summer of 2023, several confusing moments in Birmingham City's history would take place after the club's relegation from the Premier League way back in 2011.

The former EFL Cup winners and UEFA Europa League outfit enjoyed a speedy and dramatic plight which saw them go from competing for an immediate return to the Premier League in 2012 to a handful of miraculous relegation escapes, point deductions and several managers and head coaches.

After a brief spell of stability under Gary Rowett between 2014 and 2016, new ownership group, Trillion Trophy Asia or, as they would later be known, BSHL, started a chain of events that would add to Blues' stagnation in the second-tier, with multiple managerial changes taking place and, as a result, mass player turnover.

Despite the club still managing to acquire the services of many seasoned or high-profile campaigners under the controversial ownership, there is one particular signing which, to this very day, remains a mystery among those at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park.

Birmingham City completed bizzare Bernard Sun transfer agreement in the summer of 2019

After eventually avoiding relegation to League One following a nine-point deduction, Garry Monk was controversially dismissed in B9, with Pep Clotet taking the reins on an interim basis before eventually being handed the job on a full-time basis.

The playing squad in this part of the West Midlands underwent major change, with the likes of Che Adams and Jota moving to Southampton and Aston Villa respectively, whilst incomings - beside the hefty fee parted with for Ivan Sunjic - were largely made on a shoestring budget.

Clotet looked to utilise his knowledge of the Spanish game to conduct a mini 'revolution' as such, with the likes of Alvaro Gimenez, Fran Villalba, Jeremie Bela, Agus Medina and Ivan Guzman among those to join from the Iberian Peninsula.

Yet, whilst none of those aforementioned names proved to leave any sort of legacy or were viewed as major transfer coups for Clotet, their moves to St. Andrew's were not anywhere near as confusing as the deal to sign Bernard Sun as a free agent after the Chinese playmaker spent pre-season training with the Second City club.

The former Estudiantes de Murcia midfielder had previously come through the ranks with German outfit, Kaiserslauten, after moving from Beijing to Koblenz at just seven years of age. However, Blues fans wouldn't get a single glimpse of his potential, making him, arguably, the most confusing acquisition in the club's 150-year history.

Despite Blues, once again, failing to make any kind of mark on the Championship as a whole under Clotet besides the emergence of Jude Bellingham, Sun was clearly deemed not required from an early stage.

After penning a two-year contract, the midfielder failed to make it into a single matchday squad across the 2019/20 and 2020/21 campaigns, where he still issued a heartfelt farewell message to supporters, even though they were none the wiser with regard to his talent on the pitch.

With the club clearly in a better place these days, it is sometimes easy for supporters to react jokingly in hindsight. But, when Sun is remembered more for his promotional appearances with the club's social media team during Chinese New Year celebrations at the Arcadian and Chinese Quarter in central Birmingham, it is clear that he remains an enigma to many.