"I expect" - Pundit reacts to Birmingham City financial news involving Knighthead | OneFootball

Knighthead have injected further cash into the Birmingham City coffers

Carlton Palmer expects Birmingham City to use the January transfer window as a method of forward planning, as Knighthead pump further cash into the club's coffers.

After suffering relegation into League One for the first time since 1995, optimism levels surrounding the Blues haven't been this high for a number of years, which is largely down to the investment from the likes of Tom Wagner and Tom Brady.

This has led to a strong start in all competitions in Chris Davies' first managerial role, with the former Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Leicester City and Celtic assistant only tasting defeat once in the league so far this season, as well as progressing in the early stages of the FA Cup, and making the knockout stages of the EFL Trophy through a recent 7-1 hammering of Fulham's Under-21s.

Birmingham's performance levels and results were expected to come under the microscope anyway with such high expectations, but they were only heightened by a record-breaking summer spending spree, which, according to the Athletic, saw the American ownership group invest between £20-25m on the playing squad, including the well-documented capture of Jay Stansfield on a permanent basis.

And, with the January transfer window now less than two months away, a recent development could see the club make further waves in the transfer market.

Carlton Palmer expects Birmingham City to forward-plan in the January transfer window

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, former England international defender, Palmer, believes that the St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park outfit can utilise the January window to plan ahead for life in the Championship, as he expects the club to regain their second tier status at the first time of asking.

This also follows a revelation from football finance expert Kieran Maguire, who stated that the club's parent company - Shelby Companies LTD - have pumped in another £3.9m of shares.

"Birmingham City sit second in League One, level on points with Wycombe with a game in hand," the pundit began.

"I fully expect Birmingham City to get promotion. Lots of money was spent in the summer, and more money is being pumped into the club by the owners. I expect them to spend big again in January," he elaborated.

"I think it's about looking ahead. You have to be forward-planning and forward thinking, and they're looking at the Championship."

"Like I've said before, if you get the recruitment right and get the situation right, you can roll again," Palmer continued. "Ipswich Town proved that."

"They got the recruitment right and spent big. 11 of the players who got promoted from League One played in the Championship, and they managed to get promotion again into the Premier League."

"It's about getting the recruitment right and doing it early. If you wait until the end of the season and get promotion, prices for players go up," Palmer stated.

"Look at the players they've already bought into the football club, they're already Championship players."

"I expect them to spend big and wisely. They're spending on youth and going about things the right way. Obviously, first things first, they need to get promotion, but you need to look beyond getting promotion."

He concluded : "To get promotion out of these leagues, you have to have better players, which is exactly what Birmingham City and Wrexham have done. I fully expect Birmingham to go again in the January transfer window."

Although some would argue that Blues' squad doesn't need strengthening massively, such is the strength-in-depth at Davies' disposal, recent developments hint towards further investment and forward-planning ahead of the 2025/26 campaign.

It has recently been reported that the club are looking to reignite their interest in Hannover 96 centre-back Phil Neumann, having had a bid in the region of £3.4m swiftly rejected in the summer, although Sky Sports' Florian Plettenberg suggested an offer was put in place which included a €4m sum.

It's hard to tell whether Birmingham can fully emulate Ipswich Town's rapid rise from the third tier into the Premier League in the same timeframe, despite Wagner's recent dream of the club becoming a top flight club again by 2026, but they are continuing to signal their intent from within the boardroom.