Birmingham City were busy throughout the recent January transfer window in their attempt to build a squad that can win promotion to the Premier League.
The Blues are only two points off the play-offs at the time of writing and still have a real opportunity to finish in the play-off positions by the end of the campaign.
One of the moves that the club made in January was to sign Patrick Roberts on a permanent deal from Sunderland for an undisclosed fee, after he spent the first half of the season on loan.
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The left-footed star has scored three goals and provided four assists in 26 appearances in the Championship for Birmingham so far this season, impressing on the right flank.
He will now remain at St. Andrew's beyond the end of the current campaign, thanks to the January deal, but there are concerns over his suitability for where the club want to go.
Why Patrick Roberts is not a long-term signing for Birmingham
The 29-year-old star is only likely to have an impact on the pitch in the short-term if the Blues achieve their goal of winning promotion to the Premier League this season or next season.
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That is because he has not proven that he has the quality or physicality to be an impactful player in the top-flight in his senior career to date, as Norwich only handed him three Premier League appearances in the 2019/20 campaign and Sunderland sent him out on loan after their promotion.
This means that two clubs, three if you include Manchester City, have decided that he was not good enough to play for them at that level, which does not bode well for his future at St. Andrew's if Chris Davies' team win promotion.
Roberts is a useful player to have in the Championship, with four goals and eight 'big chances' created this season for the club, but he may not be a key player moving forward.
That does not mean that the experienced winger is not a good signing, though, because Birmingham still need players who are effective in the second tier to eventually get out of the division, so he is a shrewd short-term signing for the club.
What is frustrating for the Blues, though, is that they sold a player last year who now looks to be an even bigger talent than Roberts on the right wing.
Former Birmingham talent is a bigger star than Roberts
Birmingham have had some brilliant talents come through their academy system over the years, most notably England international and Real Madrid superstar Jude Bellingham.
|Most valuable Birmingham academy graduates|
|Player|Market value|
|---|
|Jude Bellingham|£139m|
|Jobe Bellingham|£22m|
|Jordan James|£7m|
|Demarai Gray|£3m|
|Romelle Donovan|£3m|
|Valuations via Transfermarkt|
One name that stands out in the club's list of their most valuable former academy graduates is teenage forward Romelle Donovan, because he moved on from St. Andrew's before he could emerge as a first-team star.
The 19-year-old winger opted to join Brentford at the start of 2025, initially on loan before signing permanently in the summer, and cited the pathway to the first-team as one of the reasons why he made that move.
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Donovan came up through the youth ranks with Birmingham before making ten appearances at senior level, with seven outings in the 2023/24 Championship season.
Like Roberts, the English youngster is a diminutive left-footed right winger who likes to dribble past opposition players to create openings for himself and his teammates, as he showed at U21 level with the club.
Since signing for Brentford, Donovan has registered one goal and two assists in three U21 matches for the Bees and provided one assist in five first-team outings, including two appearances in the Premier League this season.
The teenage ace, who was described as a "serious winger talent" by Como scout Ben Mattinson, started for their first-team in a 2-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday last month and caught the eye with an impressive showing.
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Donovan completed four of his five dribbles, made three key passes, created one 'big chance', and assisted a goal against the Championship side on his full debut for Brentford.
The forward has since featured in two of the club's four Premier League games since that FA Cup showing, which shows that he impressed Keith Andrews with his performance.
Donovan appears to be heading towards a breakthrough as a Premier League attacker after leaving Birmingham just 12 months ago, whilst Roberts is 29 and is still yet to get a run of games at that level.
jay-stansfield-birmingham-city Related
Birmingham City star who left in 2024 is now a bigger talent than Stansfield
This star who was sold by Birmingham City in League One is now a bigger talent than Jay Stansfield.
Therefore, the former Blues youngster looks to be an even bigger talent than Roberts because he is on his way to doing something that the ex-Sunderland man never managed to do, and is a decade younger than him.