How much Nikola Zigic used to earn at Birmingham City - It's just under x5 what Jay Stansfield earns | OneFootball

Nikola Zigic earned a hefty salary during his stint at St. Andrew's

Birmingham City have been a club associated with high-profile strikers throughout its 150-year history - a trend which is very much continuing into the present.

Under the ownership of Knighthead Capital Management, Blues are looking to return to their former position as Premier League regulars, having been outside the top flight since May 2011.

With the club looking to move into a new 'Sports Quarter' complex within the next five years, Tom Wagner continues to back manager Chris Davies in terms of transfer decisions, as well as overall confidence amid a slightly inconsistent start to the current Championship campaign.

After a record-breaking campaign in League One last time out, many within the current squad have already become favourites with supporters, as they look to follow in the footsteps of those who previously brought home an unexpected EFL Cup success in 2011 under Alex McLeish.

One of the main cult figures from an extremely tumultuous period at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park was big Serbian forward, Nikola Zigic, who joined the club back in the summer of 2010 as Blues looked to build on a ninth-place finish in the Premier League.

With that being said, Football League World has compared Zigic's reported salary in B9 to that of current club-record signing, Jay Stansfield.

The 6"8 figure moved to Birmingham for a reported £6m from La Liga outfit Valencia, adding to a frontline which included the vastly-experienced Cameron Jerome.

Zigic's first season ended with extremely mixed fortunes, with the striker coming under scrutiny for his performance levels, only scoring five Premier League goals.

However, he immediately wrote himself into folklore for his contributions to the club's underdog EFL Cup run, which saw him net the winner in front of the Tilton in a 2-1 success over bitter rivals, Aston Villa, at the quarter-final stage, before scoring the opening goal at Wembley in the final against Arsenal, in which Obafemi Martins netted a dramatic late winner.

The striker's best individual performance would come the following season as he netted all four goals in a 4-1 rout over Leeds United at Elland Road, although Blues were unable to regain their top-flight status under a backdrop of financial uncertainty under the controversial Carsen Yeung.

Despite writing himself into prior history, the most important of the Serbian's 36 goals in royal blue would come on the final day of the 2013/14 season, as his 78th-minute header sparked the most dramatic of great escape acts from relegation to League One, with Paul Caddis eventually equalising to salvage a 2-2 draw at Bolton Wanderers which preserved the club's second tier status.

All of this was done whilst Zigic was earning a reported £55,000 per week, a figure which didn't help the financial climate of the club despite his cult-hero status.

Jay Stansfield's current Birmingham City earnings amid club-record transfer

Stansfield is the latest poster figure at St. Andrew's, having become the club's record-signing in August 2024 after scoring 12 goals during Blues' relegation season of 2023/24.

Despite being the subject of 'ridicule' from opposition supporters, the former Fulham man showcased exactly why Knighthead were so eager to secure his services on a long-term contract, scoring 24 goals in 46 appearances across all competitions across Davies' first season in a full-time managerial role.

Unsurprisingly, Stansfield's performances have come under the microscope as a result of the aforementioned club-record exploits, and he has enjoyed a relatively solid start back in the Championship despite suffering two blows to the ankle across the opening two months.

Yet, despite being the club-record acquisition, Zigic's wage is far greater than that earned by the 22-year-old, who is said to earn a weekly base wage of just £12,500 per week, which can increase to £15,625 per week depending on bonuses.

Such figures are also just under three times as low as the top earner in this part of the Second City, with summer recruit, Kyogo Furuhashi believed to collect a weekly wage of £35,000.