Birmingham City have missed out on £14m Man Utd transfer | OneFootball

Birmingham City have made a mistake in the transfer market and with the re-signing of James Beadle.

Birmingham City will be expecting to challenge for promotion in the Championship this season but missing out on Radek Vitek in favour of re-signing James Beadle could be something that holds them back.

In the 2024-25 campaign, Birmingham broke the all-time EFL points tally by amassing 111 points on their way to romping to the League One title under the management of Chris Davies.

Big spending in the summer of 2024, The Blues continued to show ambition in the summer transfer window last year but perhaps got things wrong as they stuttered along throughout the campaign.

Eventually finishing strongly with three victories and two draws in their final five games of the season as they ended up in the top-half of the table, it was a frustrating campaign in which City failed to ever really look as though they would challenge for the top six and the play-off places.

A year on, and with seemingly a calmer and more deliberate approach in the market, the expectation will be that they do this season instead challenge for the play-offs at least, especially with its expansion from the top six to the top eight.

However, it could well be that repeating a mistake from last summer is what costs them again this time around.

Birmingham should have opted to challenge Middlesbrough for Radek Vitek

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Reports suggest that Middlesbrough are now closing in on the £14 million signing of Manchester United goalkeeper Radek Vitek this summer.

‘Boro, who missed out on promotion in the play-off final last season with an error made by Sol Brynn in second half stoppage-time of that final against Hull City, have sought to rectify what was an obvious weak point in their squad and their starting eleven.

Vitek was excellent on loan at Bristol City last season but made it clear he wanted to depart Old Trafford on a permanent basis this time around, pricing a lot of clubs out of a move for the 22-year-old, with Bristol City bringing in Sam Tickle from Wigan Athletic instead.

In 41 Championship appearances for The Robins last season, Vitek kept the fourth most amount of clean sheets in the division, 12th, despite playing for a City side that finished 12th. For example, the top two ‘keepers in the clean sheets list were the automatically promoted Carl Rushworth, of Coventry City, and Ipswich Town’s Christian Walton, with Brynn, of Middlesbrough, in third.

In comparison, James Beadle managed just eight clean sheets for a Birmingham side that struggled to make their mark on the Championship for much of the season, attempting to dictate the ball like they did in the third-tier but at a higher level and without the technical dominance from the year before.

Beadle was expected to be able to impart some of that ability with the ball from the back as a member of Lee Carsley’s 2025 UEFA U21 European Championship-winning England side and a highly-rated youngster at one of the best clubs for nurturing talent, Brighton and Hove Albion, but his shakiness with the ball at his feet increased the anxiety of both City supporters and, perhaps, their players to an unhelpful degree.

A better shot stopper than a footballer to many, Beadle’s goalkeeping abilities also came under scrutiny in his debut season at St Andrew’s with a -0.9 goals prevented rate, the 15th best in the division, in stark contrast to Vitek, who had a 5.4 goals prevented rate – again the fourth best in the Championship, again only behind both Rushworth and Walton, as well as Sweden international Jacob Widell Zetterstrom, of Derby County.

The statistics of last season show a bit of a chasm between the two goalkeepers and, after reported interest from Bolton Wanderers earlier in the summer, it is somewhat surprising that the still big spending Blues have opted to maintain their trust in Beadle with another loan spell from Brighton.

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At the start of last season, perhaps already highlighting a lack of trust from Davies in Beadle, experienced goalkeeper Ryan Allsop was the preferred starting option for the opening eight games of the campaign, with Beadle on the bench.

Beadle did then assert himself as the ‘number one’ in the second city with his performances improving and, at the age of 22 with his youth credentials to fall back on at international level and already with plenty of EFL experience, there is reason to be positive that Beadle will continue to develop into a goalkeeper that can hold the reins for a team challenging to return to the top-flight.

However, be it impatience or a lack of prioritising of the position, it is somewhat surprising that Birmingham have opted to take a bit of a risk on their goalkeeper signing this summer, rather than nail down the spot with a significant outlay.

A significant outlay is not something that ownership group have been shy of since they arrived, with Vitek’s supposed move to the Riverside Stadium remaining less than what Birmingham paid for Jay Stansfield, £15 million, when in the third-tier.

Since then, Birmingham have continued to shell out relatively sizeable fees and they have even done so recently with August Priske for £6 million from Djurgarden and Carlos Vicente from Deportivo Alaves for £7 million in January, as well as decent fees paid for Jhon Solis and Luis Vazquez from Girona and Anderlecht respectively this summer.

It could well be that Beadle goes on to become a genuinely very good goalkeeper for the level but, both the statistics and the eye test, would suggest there is a gulf between he and the best in the division, of which Vitek is among.