Even Chris Davies must be surprised at how Celtic agreement has worked for Birmingham City | OneFootball

Tomoki Iwata has proven to be an outstanding signing from Birmingham City after his arrival from Celtic.

Birmingham City have enjoyed a remarkable season under Chris Davies, with promotion to the Championship looking like a formality.

Of course, to many observers, this was to be expected. Thanks to their ambitious US owners, Blues oversaw a record-breaking summer window by League One standards, as incredible levels of finance were thrown at building a squad that is simply too good for the third tier.

To his credit, Davies managed to quickly build a team out of the 17 new recruits that came through the door in the summer, and he appears to have kept everyone happy.

Birmingham City’s transfer strategy has paid off

Looking back on the summer window, it was Jay Stansfield’s arrival that understandably attracted most of the attention, as he joined for a fee in excess of £15m.

The forward was the statement signing, and the bit of business that made many take notice of just how serious Tom Wagner and his US group are about making Birmingham a success.

However, it perhaps gave a misleading impression of Blues, who haven’t just thrown money at anyone.

The recruitment team worked hard to identify some real bargains, and by bringing in Tomoki Iwata from Celtic for around £830,000, they arguably secured one of the best value transfers in the country.

Tomoki Iwata emerges as key Birmingham City figure

With Iwata previously at Celtic, it's natural to presume that Davies’ fingertips were over this deal.

Whilst the Japanese international wasn’t at Parkhead when the Blues boss was assistant, Davies will still have a close relationship with current Celtic chief Brendan Rodgers.

The two have been at many clubs together over the years, so Davies was sure to have asked his former mentor about Iwata before pursuing the midfielder.

Clearly, the feedback would’ve been positive, but even Davies will surely be surprised at how well Iwata has adapted to life in the Second City.

During his time at Celtic, Iwata was largely the understudy to Callum McGregor, so playing regularly was difficult.

However, when chances did come, the 27-year-old didn’t always impress. That’s not to say he was bad, but he didn’t fully stamp his influence on the side.

Tomoki Iwata can play at a much higher level

At Birmingham, it’s a different story.

With Paik Seung-ho and Marc Leonard, Blues already had a quality midfield by League One standards, so Iwata’s arrival wasn’t a necessity.

But it became apparent very quickly why Davies made the Celtic man his 16th signing of the summer at the time.

Simply put, Iwata is a complete midfielder. He has excellent strength and stamina, which allows him to win physical battles, he can pass the ball forward quickly, and he loves a shot from range. As well as that, he looks a leader on the pitch, and has the respect of his teammates.

Obviously, this is League One, but Iwata’s all-action display against a talented Newcastle side, that included a trademark long-range goal, was proof that there is more to come as the club progress.

Given their financial power, it felt like Birmingham’s intelligent recruitment went under the radar somewhat, but they made many astute signings, with Iwata arguably the pick of the bunch.

Not only has he been integral to their promotion push this season, but he will be key to Birmingham in the years to come as they try to reach the Premier League.