'Done deal' - Birmingham City plan transfer announcement following major agreement with Premier League club
Chris Davies has secured his second signing of the summer at Birmingham City.
Birmingham City have completed their second signing of the summer transfer window and have set aside a date to make the official announcement, Birmingham World understands.
As revealed earlier this month, Blues have reached a full agreement with Brighton & Hove Albion to loan goalkeeper James Beadle for the 2025/26 season. The 20-year-old has spent the past 18 months at Sheffield Wednesday and the South Yorkshire club were keen to sign him again, but he will join Birmingham instead.
The deal has been agreed for several weeks now but it hasn’t been announced publicly for two reasons: out of respect for Wednesday as Beadle’s loan spell doesn’t officially end until June 30, and to allow the goalkeeper to focus on the UEFA European Under-21 Championship.
Keeping the Birmingham move private - at least officially - has proved to have been a good decision as Beadle has excelled for England U21 throughout the past few weeks, making several vital saves to help the Young Lions to the final against Germany on Saturday, June 28.
Birmingham plan to announce Beadle’s arrival on July 1 as at that stage both the Euro Under-21 campaign and his Wednesday loan will be over. It’s understood that several other Championship clubs were keen on securing Beadle’s services for next season but he was advised by Brighton’s loan manager, Gordon Greer, to join Blues instead.
Chris Davies faces goalkeeping dilemma after James Beadle agreement
One of Blues manager Chris Davies’ priorities before the window opened was to sign a new goalkeeper, so he’ll be thrilled to have landed Beadle. Northern Ireland international Bailey Peacock-Farrell simply wasn’t hitting the heights expected of him and he was unable to compete with Ryan Allsop for much of last season.
It may seem harsh on League One Golden Glove winner Allsop that Blues are signing a new goalkeeper but it’s in the best interests of the football club. Peacock-Farrell made far too many errors last campaign and cannot be relied upon if Allsop gets injured, put simply.
Peacock-Farrell actually started as Blues’ first-choice shot-stopper at the beginning of last term but was soon found out as he made a succession of howlers. Allsop, a boyhood Bluenose, was waiting in the wings and impressed with 21 clean sheets in 38 League One matches to pip Wrexham’s Arthur Okonkwo to the Golden Glove award.
Winning that individual accolade doesn’t always equal keeping a starting place in the division above as Joe Wildsmith won it in 2023/24 with Derby County but then became West Bromwich Albion’s backup in the Championship. It probably won’t be that dramatic of a blow for Allsop but he’ll certainly have competition with Beadle coming through the doors.
It’ll be interesting to see who will start for Blues when the new Championship campaign comes around, with pre-season likely pivotal for both Allsop and Beadle. That said, the new signing from Brighton probably wouldn’t have picked Birmingham if he knew there was a chance he’d be playing second fiddle.