Birmingham City warned over repeat Ipswich Town, Chuba Akpom deal - “We dodged a bullet” | OneFootball

The former Blues target has flattered to deceive at Portman Road this season

Birmingham City's first season back in the Championship may not have gone fully according to plan, but there are some moments along the way that will have pleased the crowd at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park.

However, an end position of 10th place on 64 points has certainly generated a mixed reaction from Blues supporters, as it is, statistically speaking, the club's best finish for a decade since the days of Gary Rowett. But, it isn't exactly what was expected at the start of the campaign, despite being newly-promoted from League One.

Indeed, Birmingham were heavily fancied to continue riding the crest of a wave which had been generated in remarkable circumstances last season, as they romped to the third tier title by achieving an EFL all-time record number of points - 111 to be exact.

Many argued that Chris Davies already had the nucleus of a competitive Championship side at his disposal, and those feelings only grew stronger when assessing the club's summer recruitment drive in particular, which saw 14 new signings - many of whom were high-profile - come through the door.

However, Birmingham has since seen mixed returns on those investments, which sums up their mid-table position, meaning they will have to wait another 12 months to potentially emulate the promotion successes of both Coventry City and Ipswich Town.

Yet, whilst those in this part of the Second City may have looked on at the Tractor Boys' promotion-winning scenes with envy, there is one set of developments concerning the two clubs this season which Blues will feel they are the ultimate winners of.

Birmingham City 'dodged a bullet' with Chuba Akpom transfer miss at the expense of Ipswich Town

Indeed, this revolves around the long-standing summer transfer saga involving Blues, Ipswich and former Middlesbrough striker, Chuba Akpom.

The 30-year-old has endured a mixed career, with a high point being crowned as the Championship's Golden Boot winner for the 2022/23 season, having scored 28 times in 38 regular-season games at the Riverside Stadium despite Middlesbrough's loss to Coventry in the play-off semi-finals.

A further mixed spell with Ajax followed, before it seemed as though, for a moment, the ex-Arsenal man would be heading to St. Andrew's to join an attacking department spearheaded by club-record signing, Jay Stansfield.

However, Ipswich would eventually secure a loan move for the forward, and they have now been forced to pay the Dutch giants £7m for a permanent transfer after clinching an immediate return to the Premier League due to a clause within the initial agreement.

But, with Akpom scoring just twice all season and being limited to substitute appearances since January, Football League World's Birmingham City fan pundit, Jason Moore, sees it as a big bullet dodged by Davies' side.

"100% we dodged a bullet," he told FLW. "He's been absolutely shocking.

"The price they've had to pay for him, wow.

"I don't see any positives from that deal (for Ipswich)," Moore added.

"There's been two dodged bullets (for Blues), to be fair. Akpom's the biggest as he's been terrible, and he's only ever had one good season with Middlesbrough, and (Kwame) Poku.

"What an absolute bullet dodged," he continued.

"I don't feel for Ipswich. They did the business they had to do to beat us to him, and it's not gone well.

"I'm sure they'll offload him to somewhere like Greece next season, and I hope we don't go back in for him."

Birmingham City have endured transfer mishaps themselves despite Chuba Akpom miss

While those at St. Andrew's may breath a huge sigh of relief that Akpom didn't struggle in front of goal for Birmingham, the Midlands outfit have also endured their own transfer mishaps this season.

The most notable of those, of course, has been 23-time Japan international, Kyogo Furuhashi, who was part of a deal worth up to £10m with Stade Rennais in July.

Despite a poor six-month spell at Roahzon Park, many expected the 31-year-old to rekindle the goalscoring touch he was renowned for at Celtic, but that has been far from the case.

In 31 appearances in all competitions, Kyogo scored just three times, and saw his season end a month early due to a shoulder issue.

There is still time for the striker to turn things around if he is kept at St. Andrew's as he has two years remaining on his contract, and given the money spent on his signature, Blues fans will hope that occurs in 2026/27.