Birmingham City rolled the dice on £1.5m transfer - Watford FC deal fell flat | OneFootball

Diego Fabbrini failed to leave a lasting impression at St. Andrew's following his move from the Hornets

Birmingham City's transfer business throughout the 2010s was conducted under the clouds of financial uncertainty and friction at St. Andrew's.

Such predicaments have been very much eradicated under the current ownership of Knighthead Capital Management. But, previous years of stagnation in the Championship for Blues between their relegation from the Premier League in May 2011 and a subsequent fall into League One some 13 years later were somewhat down to an inability to shift players described as 'deadwood' by supporters.

However, it is also fair to say that, despite a lack of direction and clarity provided under the ownerships of Carsen Yeung and Knighthead's boardroom predecessors, Birmingham Sports Holdings Limited (BSHL), the most enjoyable and successful segment of a tumultuous era at St. Andrew's came during Gary Rowett's tenure, which began in November 2014 and ended in controversial circumstances some 25 months later.

After finding the club in a bleak situation following an 8-0 defeat to AFC Bournemouth at St. Andrew's just days before his appointment, Rowett was able to stabilise Blues on the pitch and galvanise those players with one of the most passionate fanbases within the EFL circle.

As previously mentioned, there were obvious financial constraints which meant the former Burton Albion boss and Blues full-back during his playing days had to operate within extremely tight means.

This was largely done to a successful degree, and such traits have once again been evidenced by Rowett at Millwall and Oxford United. However, the most expensive deal of his first spell in charge proved to be a disaster, as Diego Fabbrini failed to resurrect his career in England after a £1.5m move in January 2016, which came less than a year after the Italian had an underwhelming and short initial loan stint with the club from divisional rivals, Watford.

Rather unsurprisingly, Fabbrini was one of many names to come from Udinese to Vicarage Road in the summer of 2013 under Gianfranco Zola, penning a four-year deal in Hertfordshire before, rather ironically, making his Hornets debut at St. Andrew's.

In total, the winger made just 29 appearances for Watford, with all of his appearances coming under his future Birmingham boss and Giuseppe Sanino, scoring once and posting a further three assists.

After just half a season with Watford, the winger was loaned back to Italy and joined Siena of Serie B, where he scored once in just 10 appearances, with his next temporary switch seeing him move from the Yellows across the Championship to relegation-threatened Millwall.

Under Ian Holloway and Neil Harris, Fabbrini scored just once in 12 games, but became a favourite with supporters in a bleak period, with the Hornets recalling him from The Den in rather controversial fashion before an initial loan switch to the West Midlands came in April 2014.

With Blues' season petering out after a strong run of momentum which pulled Rowett's men away from relegation danger, the wide man made his debut in a 2-1 success in a local derby against play-off chasing Wolves, before making four more appearances as Blues ended the 2014/15 season in 10th.

Fabbrini's best spell in England would then come in a subsequent loan spell with eventual promotion winners, Middlesbrough, where he scored six times in 26 appearances before seeing his time at the Riverside Stadium cut short by injury in January 2016.

This allowed Rowett to strike a £1.5m reunion with the Italian just weeks later, in what was Blues' most expensive transfer since their Premier League days.

His second debut for the club came through a substitute cameo in a goalless draw against Bristol City, before going on to make 13 further appearances, providing Clayton Donaldson with a solitary assist against Bolton Wanderers.

That would be as good as it got for Fabbrini in royal blue though, as he made just seven appearances in the first half of the 2016/17 under Rowett and his former Watford boss, Zola, as Blues began to sink down the Championship table without a trace prior to a relegation escape act under Harry Redknapp.

Indeed, the Italian would spend the rest of his days permanently contracted to Blues in loan moves with Spezia and Real Oviedo, where he also failed to showcase any kind of goalscoring nous, further evidencing how the Championship side fell flat with the initial transfer agreement.

Eventually, Fabbrini's contract would be terminated in September 2018 at the start of Garry Monk's only full season at St. Andrew's, with a goalless run of 23 appearances in his second spell summing up a disastrous and costly deal for all involved.