Birmingham City is no longer a sleeping giant aiming to take a lower league by storm.
Now, the Blues are back in the ultra-competitive Championship, desperate to prove that they belong at the level, with an ambition in their veins to push on even more after lifting the League One title with ease.
Mega-rich Birmingham chairman Tom Wagner has even been hyping up the prospect of Chris Davies’ men being back in the Premier League by 2026 coming around, meaning the Blues will have to instantly take the EFL’s elite league by storm on their reentry.
It will be intriguing to see if all this pressure on Birmingham’s back hurts their progress, but the step up a league will also be an opportunity for the likes of Paik Seung-Ho to show they can strut their stuff in a more difficult environment, away from breaking the bank to fund their top-flight dreams.
Paik's performances in League One
Whilst Davies and Co. did bring in some proven EFL faces such as Alfie May and Jay Stansfield last summer, the Blues had sanctioned some left-field moves before their relegation took place, particularly when Paik arrived at St. Andrew’s from South Korean side Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in January of 2024.
Thankfully for Birmingham, it didn’t take long for Paik to get up to speed with his new surroundings, with the midfield maestro even netting a solitary goal in the Championship before they fell to the third tier.
The energetic 28-year-old ended up being a key part of the Birmingham side down a division too, with the Blues number 13 collecting another strike in league action as his confident team were resoundingly crowned champions, on top of also registering three assists.
Yet, now as they venture back up to the Championship, the ambitious Blues could soon land an upgrade on the stylish South Korean by signing this former Manchester United youth product.
Birmingham's search for a midfielder
Birmingham have had lots of success in the past when purchasing former Red Devils prodigies, with the likes of Tahith Chong and Jesse Lingard shining at St. Andrew’s briefly, before spreading their wings elsewhere.
Indeed, Chong registered 13 goals and assists in 61 games for the Midlands side, with Lingard previously racking up nine goal involvements in just 13 outings on loan at the club.
Charlie Savage’s name could soon be thrown into this mix, with a previous report from Football Insider revealing that Birmingham are prepared to battle it out for the £2m-rated star’s services, amidst interest also coming from Wrexham, Blackburn Rovers, and Portsmouth.
Much like Paik, Savage is fresh off a standout season in League One, albeit in a Reading side with many off-field struggles that nearly derailed matters on the pitch.
When looking at the table below, too, it could be argued that the Royals’ number eight is even an upgrade on his South Korean counterpart, with Savage tallying up more goals and assists last season for Noel Hunt’s men when weighed up next to Paik’s lesser output.
Games played
45
41
Goals scored
5
1
Assists
9
3
Touches*
47.8
66.2
Accurate passes*
27.0 (80%)
45.2 (88%)
Key passes*
1.3
1.0
Big chances created
5
8
Big chances missed
3
3
Ball recoveries*
3.7
4.0
Total duels won*
2.3
4.4
Amazingly, despite averaging fewer touches per match last season in League One, Savage would better Paik’s goal-and-assist tally by a whopping ten, with the 22-year-old’s effectiveness in forward areas perhaps a useful weapon for the Blues to call upon as they strive to ruffle feathers back in the Championship.
He does fall flat when weighing up their respective ball recovery and duels won numbers, but that’s where Tomoki Iwata could come to the rescue in any potential duo, with Iwata just about trumping Paik with 4.5 ball recoveries averaged per third-tier clash.
Hailed as “first class” by former Wales manager Rob Page when first thrown into the Red Dragons senior side, Savage should, in theory, be able to immediately slot into Davies’ team and take to the pressures of the Championship well, resulting in Paik having to make do with a spot in the background.
Shades of Jordan James: Birmingham join race to sign £2m EFL star
Birmingham City could soon sign a rising gem reminiscent of Jordan James.
ByKelan SarsonJun 5, 2025
