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Birmingham City are a team to fear ahead of the summer transfer window as they plan on spending their way to promotion.
After winning a record-breaking promotion from League One, Birmingham’s ‘ultimate objective’ is to reach the Premier League.
The Blues want to follow in the footsteps of Ipswich Town, who achieved successive promotions from the third tier of English football.
Birmingham are planning an ‘aggressive’ window, having already confirmed the permanent signing of Phil Neumann from Hannover 96, while other names are being touted with a move to St Andrews.
It promises to be a summer where Birmingham break their transfer record and ultimately, set themselves up to achieve Tom Wagner’s long-term objective.
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Tom Wagner wants to rekindle Birmingham City’s rivalry with Aston Villa
In the grand scheme of things, Chris Davies’ men consolidating their position in the Championship wouldn’t be a bad thing.
It would enable the Midlands powerhouse to assemble a squad in the coming windows that could not only win automatic promotion, but also stay in the Premier League.
That being said, David Prutton thinks Birmingham can challenge for the play-offs in 2025/26, despite just returning to the second tier, and Wagner’s long-term plan is to compete with Aston Villa and rekindle their rivalry.
“It’s absolutely a top objective,” Wagner told the i Paper. “It’s the right rivalry for Birmingham, the right derby for English football, and the right way for each club to achieve its highest potential is by rekindling a rivalry that’s been dormant for too long.
“When I speak to the true fans on both sides of that rivalry, I get the same reaction, which is that they’d love to see it.”
Birmingham last played Aston Villa in the Premier League 14 years ago, and Wagner understands what the fixture means to the city, something that adds fuel to their promotion push.
Wagner on Birmingham boasting Premier League-level revenue
It was revealed in April that Birmingham City’s revenue increased by 45% (£28.7m) throughout the 2023/24 season.
That is an impressive figure and outlines the growth of the team commercially following the takeover. Interestingly, Wagner feels the Blues would currently finish in the top two-thirds of Premier League clubs for total revenue and media impressions.
“If we were to be put into the Prem today and receive the additional revenues that are generated by media rights, we’d be in the top two-thirds of the Prem in total revenue, and we’d be in the top two-thirds of the Prem in media impressions,” he said.
“I have a high degree of confidence that as we move forward over the next few years, we’ll not only achieve promotion but we’ll continue to grow the revenue so we’re in the position to be competitive in the Prem, not simply a participant.”
Birmingham are laying the foundations early to become a European challenger in the future, with the above comments undoubtedly creating excitement among the fanbase.