Birmingham City made £2.25m loss on Crystal Palace transfer - injuries robbed them of Selhurst Park impact | OneFootball

The former Palace frontman came to St Andrews with plenty of promise

Many football fans who grew up in the late 2000s know Clinton Morrison as a contributor to the Sky Sports punditry team, but in the early 2000s, he was a striker with plenty of potential.

So was the case that, in the summer of 2002, Birmingham City made him their club-record signing, parting with £4.25 million to bring in the then-23-year-old from Crystal Palace.

Morrison had just finished second in the top scorers charts in the old First Division, now the Championship, and was poised to make just his second Premier League appearance while at the Blues under Steve Bruce.

However, a three-year spell filled with injuries and inconsistencies meant that the striker wasn't able to find his groove in the top flight, and he was sold back to Palace in 2005.

A rough three seasons at St Andrews for Clinton Morrison

The start of Clinton Morrison's Birmingham City career almost set the tone for what was to come, as he picked up a groin injury in his side's pre-season campaign, forcing him to miss the first two games of the 2002/03 Premier League season.

Morrison would make his Premier League debut from the bench against Everton, before going on to score three in as many starts, including a brace against Liverpool.

That was about as good as it got for the Irishman, who scored just three more league goals for the entire season before a dislocated shoulder in late March took him out for the rest of the campaign.

The 2003/04 term was the only one of the three he spent at St Andrews where he remained injury-free, but he spent the first half of the season struggling to obtain regular starts. Morrison's first nine Premier League appearances that season were all from the bench, as he made his first start in a December win over Leicester City in which he scored.

The rest of the season saw him get into the starting eleven more frequently, however. He ended the campaign with 19 Premier League starts, four goals and five assists.

His final full season at the club saw him miss yet another month through a knee injury sustained on international duty. When he returned, he had an extended period in the team across Christmas where he scored in three straight games. Those goals were the last he scored for Birmingham.

Morrison managed just 16 goals in 97 Blues appearances and was sold with a year remaining on his contract back to Crystal Palace for just £2 million.

Clinton Morrison post-Birmingham - back to making a Selhurst Park impact

Former Coventry City man Clinton Morrison

Barring a solitary appearance at Palace in the 1997/98 season, the Birmingham City years were the only ones which Clinton Morrison spent in the Premier League, with him being more fondly remembered for his goalscoring prowess in the Championship with Crystal Palace and Coventry City, and then in League One with Sheffield Wednesday.

His return to Palace didn't see Morrison reach the dizzying heights of the 22 goals he scored in his final year before his £4.25 million move, but he still consistently scored in double digits whilst at Selhurst Park for the three extra seasons he was there.

His move to League One meant that he left having scored at least 10 in each of his nine seasons playing in the second tier - a serviceable return for the 46-year-old.

However, Birmingham City fans will always be left wondering what could have been if he had brought this consistent goalscoring form with him during his time at St Andrews.