Why Birmingham City star Jay Stansfield needed a psychologist after sealing £15m transfer | OneFootball

Blues' club-record signing has been firmly in the spotlight in recent times

Birmingham City star Jay Stansfield has seen his career put firmly in the spotlight at what is still a relatively young age, largely due to the club's ambitious future plans.

Knighthead Capital Management acquired the West Midlands outfit in July 2023 hoping to end years of stagnation, and that goal very much remains the same despite a turbulent period during their ownership.

Birmingham have resided outside the Premier League since the end of the 2010/11 season, but with the likes of Tom Wagner and NFL icon, Tom Brady, on the board at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park, the American consortium has dared to dream big, both on and off the pitch.

However, whilst it may not come overnight, Wagner's vision is for the club to be back in the Premier League as soon as possible, meaning some hefty transfer fees on high-profile players have already been spent.

Stansfield, of course, is the first person many think of in that regard, although it hasn't always been a kind pressure for the forward.

Jay Stansfield initially flourished at Birmingham City despite 2024 relegation

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As well as now becoming synonymous with Birmingham, Stansfield initially shone on loan at Exeter City, where his late father, Adam, is forever remembered, scoring nine goals for the Grecians in League One, before making his first step up into the Championship on loan from Fulham.

The 2023/24 season was one of chaos for Blues, but it was also one which put Stansfield firmly on the radar of many with 12 goals and two assists in 43 league games under a plethora of managers, despite initially being loaned in under John Eustace, where he marked his debut against Plymouth Argyle with a last-minute winner.

However, whilst relegation was a huge blow for the club, the centre-forward then won all five awards at their end-of-season ceremony, and naturally, speculation became rife as to where his next destination would be.

Jay Stansfield's record-breaking Birmingham City switch came about in ironic fashion

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Chris Davies was then appointed at St. Andrew's, and weeks into his tenure, had seen Birmingham smash the League One transfer record multiple times.

Despite recruiting League One goalscoring supremo Alfie May from Charlton Athletic, and clubs in the Championship holding transfer interest in his services, Blues became heavily linked with a permanent move for Stansfield as the 2024 summer window drew on.

And whilst it still took multiple bids to be rejected for Birmingham and Fulham to eventually settle on a club-record and League One record transfer on a seven-year contract, there was a small sense of irony as to how the deal came about.

Indeed, the two sides were drawn against each other in the EFL Cup second round, with Stansfield scoring the Cottagers' second goal in front of the Tilton Road stand, before opting not to celebrate, and just four days later, ahead of a dramatic win over Wigan Athletic, he was welcomed back to B9 with open arms.

Jay Stansfield needed psychological help after £15m Birmingham City agreement

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Naturally, the aforementioned agreement was met with mixed reactions, even though Stansfield enjoyed a hugely successful 2024/25 season on a personal level, as well as Blues' success as a team.

24 goals in 36 games across all competitions, due to a minor injury sustained in the EFL Trophy semi-final, was enough to help Birmingham to Wembley, even in defeat to Peterborough United, as well as break the EFL's all-time points record.

However, the pressure did weigh on his shoulders, as he told BBC Radio WM: "I wouldn't say it weighed heavily [the price] but it got to the point in the season wheN I thought 'this is getting difficult' and I had to find a way to manage it, to deal with it and I did that.

"I spoke to specialists around the club who know how to deal with big pressure moments so getting help from a football psychologist and learning to deal with things helped.

"It's been tough getting absolutely hammered every game for no reason but I did my talking on the pitch and we're in the Championship now and that's all that matters," he added.

Jay Stansfield still has more room for growth at Birmingham City

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At 23 years of age, there is still plenty of room for growth for Stansfield, even if he is still often scrutinised by opposition supporters for potentially not justifying a transfer fee which, of course, wasn't any of his own doing.

In 2025/26, the forward was one strike away from matching his 2023/24 goal tally, but only scored twice in the second half of the season, whilst also featuring in an array of positions, rather than one where he appears to be very much settled in.

And, despite now having competition from the likes of August Priske, Stansfield is still under contract at the club at least until 2031, by which time Birmingham could be a completely different club altogether, and the forward will have hoped to have developed into an even stronger player to prove his current sceptics wrong.