The news that Fulham would not be called up top scorer Jay Stansfield from his season-long loan has finally allayed Birmingham City’s fears about losing the striker during the January transfer window.
On January 16, Tony Mowbray acknowledged to Birmingham World that there was still time for Stansfield’s loan to be ended early, but the Cottagers decided to let their attacker finish his time at St Andrew’s Stadium. That will annoy Sunderland and Ipswich Town, as both teams were hoping to get the 21-year-old on board in order to advance.
Even though Blues are only 11 points out of the top six and in 20th place, Stansfield is content with his life in the West Midlands. The England Under-21 international has appeared in 25 Championship games, almost always starting, and has eight goals and two assists. In the Emirates FA Cup, he has also participated twice, scoring once and providing an assist.
Stansfield’s permanent relocation was confirmed by Birmingham through a post on X. The caption for a video featuring the attacker celebrating his FA Cup victory over Hull City read, “When we said season-long loan, we meant it.” The back-and-forth between Blues and Fulham has, for the most part, ended with that pronouncement.
The next discussion Mowbray has with Craig Gardner, Director of Football, is whether or not Stansfield can be signed on a permanent basis. After the 2-1 victory over Stoke City, Mowbray stated, “I think we should definitely be in the market for him if there’s a number where he could definitely come and play here.”
“I believe he finds it quite enjoyable. If he believed he would play in the Premier League, he would want to play, but I’m very sure he doesn’t want to be a reserve. He much rather plays and scores goals in the Championship. Fulham made the decision; it’s not ours, but I know he’s having fun,” Mowbray remarked.
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