Once costing Derby County an eye-watering £10m back in 2019 to win his services, nobody would have anticipated five years on from this bumper move to Pride Park that Krystian Bielik would go on to ply his trade in League One.
Yet, that's exactly what the former Arsenal youth man will be doing next season with Birmingham City, having agreed a new deal with the Blues to stay put, even as third-tier football is soon dished up.
One of his midfield partners might not be sticking it out at St Andrew's for the drop down a division, however, as Chris Davies continues to contemplate what his side will look like as they wrestle with the image of being a big fish in a small pond.
Tyler Roberts' time at Birmingham
Many Birmingham fans might well have forgotten the fact that Tyler Roberts was even on the books at the club still, with his time in the West Midlands ravaged by injury problem after injury problem.
The former Leeds United man wasn't exactly a cheap buy either, costing the Blues around £750k reportedly, with his limited game time since joining last year making this move already feel like a dud purchase.
The Welsh attacker only featured 17 times across the dismal 46-game Championship season for Birmingham, missing large chunks of the season in the opening few months to the dismay of the Blues faithful, before then finding it hard to cement a place in the first-team ranks when back fit.
The injury-prone 25-year-old would only pick up one assist from his 19 overall outings in all competitions, with no goals coming his way, as he averaged just 43 minutes of action on the pitch across these unmemorable clashes.
With the ex-Whites man himself even admitting he has a "point to prove" this forthcoming League One campaign, after being a regular fixture in the St. Andrew's treatment room since leaving West Yorkshire behind, Davies could grow more and more restless with Roberts if he can't wriggle free of his injury demons soon.
He has already suffered a setback in trying to get this monkey off his back, having been absent from Birmingham's first pre-season fixture owing to injury, with the Blues manager tempted to cash in if any club would take him on.
Roberts is amazingly worth more than Bielik, according to Football Transfers, despite the Polish star being presumably one of the first names on Davies's teamsheet when League One action starts.
Roberts' value in 2024
Even with the knowledge that Roberts' first season in the West Midlands has been stop-start, Football Transfers estimates the Birmingham number eight's value to stand at £3.1m.
Bielik, who was present 36 times last season in the Championship compared to Roberts' constant absences, is worth a lesser £2.8m surprisingly.
Value/Stat – per 90 mins*
Roberts
Bielik
Current value
£3.1m
£2.8m
Games played
17
36
Goals scored
0
0
Assists
1
0
Touches*
22.2
56.4
Accurate passes*
8.8 (68%)
36.8 (85%)
Interceptions*
0.2
1.6
Tackles*
0.8
1.5
Ball recoveries*
1.8
7.0
Total duels won*
2.8
5.3
Looking at the table above, it makes for bleak reading from Roberts' perspective, whilst it looks encouraging from Bielik's end that he could be a battling and disruptive presence in the division below to help his side achieve their goal of instant promotion.
Bielik's staggering seven duels won on average per match last season means Davies will start the ex-Derby man week in, week out you imagine, whilst Roberts is in danger of falling further down the pecking order, if he can't be available regularly again.
Therefore, if the Blues can tempt another party in wanting to gamble on Roberts to come good, they could try to offload him this summer still, before he causes the powers that be at Birmingham more distress down the line.
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1 ByTom CoatesJul 16, 2024