Birmingham City laughed to the bank after Middlesbrough transfer decision | OneFootball

Birmingham City cashed in on Ryan Shotton in 2017, as he moved to Middlesbrough for a seven-figure fee, but the Blues had the last laugh.

It's fair to say that Birmingham City have had their share of players that have struggled to go on and hit the heights originally expected of them after leaving St Andrew's.

The Blues have had a tricky few seasons in English football, although they're seemingly on the right track nowadays, in what is their first season back in the Championship, after winning promotion from League One last term.

Back in 2017, Birmingham signed Ryan Shotton, and the defender arrived with the club hoping to fire themselves back into the Premier League for the first time since the 2010/11 league campaign.

The defender caught the eye in his time with the club, although his stay with the Blues didn't last too long, as another EFL club snapped him up.

High hopes for Ryan Shotton at Birmingham City

Shotton signed for Birmingham City whilst on loan from Derby County in 2016, and he seemingly made a good impression with the Blues, as they made his loan spell a permanent move at the end of the 2015/16 league campaign.

It was reported that the defender arrived for a fee believed to be in the region of £300,000 from Derby, and went on to make 43 appearances for them in the 2016/17 campaign, which was a disappointing one for Birmingham, as they finished 19th in the second tier standings.

However, he fell out of favour with the Blues in the following season, and with Harlee Dean arriving from Brentford, it pushed him even further down the pecking order with Birmingham.

Shotton then completed a move to Middlesbrough, with it being claimed that the fee is £3m secured the deal with Birmingham for the defender's services.

Birmingham laughed loudest with Shotton deal

Birmingham City certainly got the better of the deal when Shotton moved to Birmingham, although there would have originally been fears that he could have gone on to play at a higher level, where Middlesbrough could have gone on to sell him for much larger than the £3m fee they paid originally.

Shotton spent three years with Middlesbrough, which included a play-off campaign in Boro's first season back in the Championship, where they would have been looking to return to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

However, Middlesbrough couldn't get over the line in the bid for promotion in the second tier, and despite being offered a contract extension by Neil Warnock in 2020, Shotton decided to move away from the Riverside when his contract reached a conclusion.

Shotton's career took an interesting turn after that, as he opted to step into non-league football with Leek Town, who were playing competitively in the NPL First Division South East.

A brief spell in Australia with Melbourne Victory followed, before he returned to England's non-league pyramid, but this time, with Hanley Town, who he eventually went on to manage for two years after calling time on his playing career.

So, Birmingham City certainly had the last laugh when selling Shotton for a seven-figure fee to Middlesbrough, as Boro ultimately didn't make any money on him, as he ran down his contract after a three-year spell with the Championship club.