Birmingham City: Seven-figure League Two raid did not work out - View | OneFootball

Isaac Vassell was badly hampered by injuries at St Andrew's

Birmingham City needed a successful transfer window during the summer of 2017, after a tense end to the previous campaign.

2016/17 had ended with the Blues jettisoning Harry Redknapp into the club for the final three league games, to try and keep them clear of the Championship relegation zone.

After a 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa in his first game in charge, Redknapp then guided the club to a 2-0 win over Huddersfield Town on the final day of the season.

Despite that, Birmingham still needed their 1-0 win over Bristol City on the final day to avoid relegation to League One, as they finished 19th in the Championship, two points clear of the bottom three.

Redknapp was then given the 2017 summer transfer window to put his mark on the squad, and one of those who was brought to St Andrew's was Isaac Vassell.

Birmingham paid Luton a seven-figure fee for Isaac Vassell

Having joined Luton from non-league side Truro City in the summer of 2016, Vassell scored 14 goals in 53 appearances in all competitions during his debut season at Kenilworth Road.

That campaign though, ended in disappointment, after the Hatters were beaten by Blackpool in the League Two play-off semi-finals, to end their hopes of promotion.

The striker then started the 2017/18 season in promising fashion, scoring twice for Luton in an 8-2 thrashing of Yeovil Town on the opening day.

As a result, in August 2017, Birmingham reportedly paid a fee of over £1 million to bring Vassell to the Championship from the fourth tier of English football.

In the end, though, that opportunity to show what he could do in a division two leagues higher than he had ever played at before, did not go well for the forward.

Isaac Vassell had no luck at St Andrew's

After coming off the bench for his Birmingham debut just a day after signing for the club, Vassell was forced off at halftime on his first start for the Blues in the EFL Cup the following week.

It was around a month before the striker returned to action when he came off the bench in a 3-1 defeat at home to Preston North End in September 2017.

Redknapp was sacked after that defeat, which had left the club 23rd in the Championship table, after eight games of the campaign.

After that, Vassell became a more regular feature for Birmingham and secured only their second league win of the season when scoring the only goal against Sheffield Wednesday two weeks later.

However, the striker would suffer yet another big setback at the end of October 2017, when the striker ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in a goalless draw with Aston Villa.

That would rule him out for the remainder of the 2017/18 campaign, preventing him from building on his early experiences of Championship football.

Birmingham would struggle that season but avoided relegation following another 19th-place finish in the second-tier standings.

Vassell will therefore have been hoping to return to Championship action for the start of the 2018/19 season.

Yet again though, injuries would deal a cruel hand to the striker, who picked up another injury on the eve of the campaign.

This time it was a hip problem that meant Vassell would not play until mid-January 2019, meaning he spent around 14 months waiting to make his return to competitive action for Birmingham.

By the time he did return to fitness, the form of the likes of Che Adams and Lukas Jutkiewicz - who both enjoyed impressive campaigns - will have made it hard for him to get back into the side.

As a result, the striker would make a total of 14 more appearances for Birmingham before the end of the 2018/19 campaign, with only two of those coming as a starter.

Consequently, that again denied him the chance to show what he could do in the Championship, or for the Blues to really get a return on their investment in him.

Indeed, after so long out and with his game time limited, the striker seemingly found it hard to get back up to speed and did not get on the scoresheet again for the club.

With just a year remaining on his contract at St Andrew's, Vassell was then sold to Cardiff City in the summer of 2019, after making only 24 appearances and scoring just once for Birmingham.

His spell in the Welsh capital would also be hampered by injuries, again denying him the chance to show his ability at Championship level.

For the Blues though, that combination of injury problems, and his struggle to make an impact on the pitch, will surely have been a major frustration, given the significant fee they paid at a key time.

With all that in mind, it seems clear that the issues suffered by Vassell during his time at Birmingham meant the price they paid to Luton to sign him in 2017 was a rather costly one.