“I wouldn’t be paying that” – Birmingham City told to avoid Leeds United transfer

In anticipation of the 2025–2026 season, Birmingham City is continuing to increase their summer transfer window activity. After surpassing the record League One points total and convincingly winning the third-tier title, the Blues are trying to assemble a team capable of competing in the second division again. Tom Wagner has supported the Blues thus far this summer, bringing nine new players to the West Midlands.

Taylor Gardner-Hickman and Alfons Sampsted have converted their loan moves into permanent stays, while Demarai Grey, Phil Neumann, Tommy Doyle, Phil Beadle, Bright Osayi-Samuel, Kyogo Furuhashi, Kanya Fujimoto, and Tommy Doyle have all entered the building. Mateo Joseph, a forward for Leeds United, has been linked to the Blues, who hope to reach double figures for arrivals. According to Alan Nixon’s most recent report, the Whites have asked for £10 million to acquire the 21-year-old and get him out of Elland Road. FLW’s Birmingham City fan analyst has debated whether the Blues should pay that hefty price in light of this revelation.

Mateo Joseph’s goal-scoring record questioned at Championship level

Speaking to Football League World, Birmingham City fan pundit Jason Moore has questioned whether Mateo Joseph is worth the investment, believing his second-tier goal-scoring record doesn’t mirror what the Whites are demanding.

 

Jason said: “So I know we’ve got money in the bank, and we’re apparently looking at two to three big signings to get us potentially up, but I don’t know about £10 million for Mateo Joseph.

“He’s someone who has not reallyscored a lot of goals, even though he didn’t play a lot for Leeds as a number nine last season. However, £10 million for a striker who hasn’t scored many goals when you’ve just signed Kyogo (Furuhashi)? No, I wouldn’t pay that much for him, especially with Stansfield and Kyogo present. “We need another striker, in my opinion, but I wouldn’t spend £10 million on Joseph. “By all means, I’m happy for them to spend £10 million on a striker, but not for Joseph.”

“By all means, I’m happy for them to spend £10 million on a striker, but not for Joseph.” “Instead of taking a chance on someone who is only 21 and only scored three goals the previous season, I would prefer someone who is more experienced at this level and you know will score goals for you.” “So no, not for me; I’d prefer to have Kyogo be the main character or get someone else.”

Birmingham City should pursue a more proven Championship marksman

It’s evident that Birmingham City has no financial constraints and can still afford to invest a significant sum of money on a forward to strengthen their lineup. Mateo Joseph’s goal-scoring output at the second-tier level isn’t up to par yet, so a move for him would be more of a long-term investment. The Spaniard only scored three goals in 39 games, and it’s difficult to defend investing so much money on a player who doesn’t seem to be progressing in their career.

A move for someone like Jamie Vardy should be the top priority for the Blues if they want to exit the Championship as soon as possible. With his 18 goals in the 2023–24 season demonstrating that he still has what it takes to contribute consistently at this level, the West Midlands team has been tipped to make a move for the 38-year-old.

Joseph doesn’t currently have a strong enough goal-scoring record to succeed in a team vying for promotion, and £10 million seems like a waste of money that, if used prudently, could have a significant impact on the team’s final finish.

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