Sky Sports EFL expert supports Birmingham City owner’s ‘warning’ to Championship rivals for key reason

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Birmingham City have obliterated their competition in League One, but ahead of their return to the Championship, their ambitions are huge.

A record points total has been set by Birmingham on their way to winning the League One title as their 2-0 victory over Blackpool put them on a remarkable 108 with a final day fixture to come against Cambridge United.

Under the guidance of Chris Davies, the Blues have played some wonderful football, orchestrated by the ‘astounding’ Christoph Klarer in defence and an expensively assembled squad compared to the rest of the third tier.

Birmingham broke the League One transfer record to sign Jay Stansfield, who cost £15 million alongside a raft of other quality players.

A similar promise is being made to smash their record once more this summer, with Birmingham able to offer players at least £30,000-per-week to join the club.

That makes them an attractive proposition to join, but the money is also backed up by ambition, as demonstrated by Tom Wagner’s comments.

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David Prutton supports Tom Wagner’s ‘warning’ to Championship rivals

In April, Wagner outlined his lofty ambition to not only challenge rivals Aston Villa in the Premier League but also join them on the European stage.

“I cannot wait [to play Villa],” Wagner told The Times. “It’ll be the happiest day of my life, irrespective of the outcome. Because I think it would bring something great to both sets of fans. Yes, [Birmingham fans] sing a song to me and say I hate Villa. And of course, I will on match day.”

A club with a huge ambition backed by financial muscle is a difficult beast to halt, and David Prutton thinks Birmingham will finish in the Championship play-offs in 2025/26.

Meanwhile, in response to those comments made by Wagner, the former Sheffield Wednesday player believes it is a ‘warning’ to the rest of the division.

“Wowzers – it definitely should be a warning,” Prutton said via Football League World. “The devastation that came with them dropping out of the division has been well and truly blown apart by how good they’ve been in League One, how they’ve managed to re-tool, how they’ve managed to build their squad up.

“Yes, I think there’s different financial stipulations with regards to how the Championship is operated, but yeah, they’re coming up and gunning for a blast through this division.

“It’ll be tough, just because they were so good in League One doesn’t mean to say that automatically translates into Championship success, but they will be a coveted club for people to join, they will be able to pay very good wages and attract very good players.

“So, with Birmingham City, I’d say watch this space.”

Birmingham already looking to make a statement in the transfer market

We already know that Birmingham will be ‘aggressive’ with their spending in the Championship, as they’re determined to follow in the footsteps of Ipswich Town by winning back-to-back promotions.

The Blues have already signed centre-back Phil Neumann from Hannover 96, and he will join the club once his contract expires in June.

That will be the start of an exciting summer, as EFL Analysis exclusively revealed that Championship clubs are tracking striker Che Adams.

Adams, who currently plays for Torino in Serie A, is a possible striking option that Birmingham are looking at this summer.

The Scotland international previously played for the Blues from 2016 to 2019 and scored 38 goals in 123 appearances for the club.

Now, after a nine-goal haul in the Italian top division, Adams could return to English shores and fire Birmingham back into the Premier League.