Double Birmingham City transfer deal leaves serious question marks | OneFootball

Recent developments have only raised further eyebrows over Blues' previous transfer plans

In the past three years, Knighthead Capital Management haven't been afraid to set out their ambitious short and long-term plans at Birmingham City, and right now, the club are certainly in a rather intriguing position.

The American investment group's first season in the St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park boardroom saw Blues relegated from the Championship to League One for the first time in 30 years, but the likes of Tom Wagner have since looked to bounce back from such shortcomings in remarkable fashion.

After initially moving to appoint Chris Davies as manager two summers ago, Birmingham embarked on a campaign which proved to be record-breaking in more ways than one, as they returned to the second tier off the back of accruing 111 points in the 2024/25 League One season.

As such, there was plenty of belief that, at worst, the West Midlands outfit would be able to hold their own in the second tier, before belief over a potential play-off or promotion push only grew stronger as the summer transfer window of 2025 continued.

Of course, with last season now in the record books, it is fair to say that Knighthead's continued backing of Davies when it came to overseeing two squad reshuffles left many feeling that there were still more questions than answers when it came to the performances of individuals and the team as a whole, even if a 10th-placed finish was the club's best in a decade.

And, with recent developments coming to light, it is fair to say that the predicaments surrounding Kyogo Furuhashi and Marvin Ducksch sum up those feelings more than anything else.

Kyogo Furuhashi summed up Birmingham City's scattergun transfer approach in 2025

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So far this summer, Blues have only acquired the services of three players, two of which were on loan at the club last season in James Beadle and Jhon Solis, whilst Dael Fry signed on a free transfer after leaving Middlesbrough last month.

The 28-year-old's move from Teesside was met with praise given his vast Championship experience, given the fact plenty of criticism came the club's way last summer as a scattergun approach appeared to have been adopted when 14 new players were added to the squad.

Not all of those boasted Championship experience, but when Kyogo Furuhashi moved from Stade Rennais in a deal which was reportedly worth up to £10m, excitement levels in B9 reached fever pitch.

Despite an underwhelming six-month period in Brittany, the 31-year-old had still scored 85 times in 165 games for Celtic beforehand, and was expected to translate such form into the Championship.

However, that was far from reality, and it is now being debated whether the 23-time international is, pound for pound, the worst signing in Birmingham's 151-year history.

Despite nursing a shoulder injury which curtailed his season in April, Kyogo missed a glut of big chances and fell down the pecking order well before his move to LA Galaxy was confirmed earlier in the week.

Indeed, he was given a three-year contract in the process, but only netted three league goals, with a solitary Championship strike coming against Sheffield Wednesday.

It now remains to be seen what the make-up of Blues' attacking department looks like as a whole when the season kicks off in three weeks, especially if another addition who generated mixed reviews is to depart.

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At this stage of pre-season, it has been August Priske who has led the line the majority of the time, with the 22-year-old already on the goalscoring trail, which many Bluenoses will hope continues into the new term after getting off the mark in a competitive sense on the final day of 2025/26 at Portsmouth.

Jay Stansfield is yet to be heavily involved in pre-season, but there will still be plenty of hopes pinned on the club-record signing, which leaves Marvin Ducksch in an interesting spot himself.

The 32-year-old and two-time German international, like Stansfield, hit double-figures last term after a £1.75m move from Werder Bremen, also on a three-year contract.

However, he has also split opinions about his impact on the pitch, as well as controversies off it, which came to the fore at Easter after being charged in excess of £20,000 for a three-way vehicle collision near to the club's 'EPIC' training facility.

After previously being linked with a swift departure in March, it has since come to the fore that Ducksch's contract includes a €1m non-promotion clause which could be activated, whilst he has also revealed his thoughts over a potential return to the Bundesliga, a division where he previously scored 34 times in 130 appearances.

Therefore, some may question whether the striker is fully committed to the cause right now, and that will only add to the scrutiny over his initial transfer 12 months ago, even though Blues courted his services for some time.