Birmingham City star will be remembered as an expensive flop, If he departs this summer

Expectations among Birmingham City supporters were high when Croatian international midfielder Ivan Sunjic signed in the summer of 2019.

Even though Sunjic had only received one Croatian cap, the team had advanced to the World Cup final the year before, thus it was obvious that he was a very promising player to play for them.

At the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the midfielder captained Croatia’s under-21 team, demonstrating his high regard in his native country. When the Blues announced his signing, it seemed like quite the coup.

To get him to St Andrew’s from Croatian powerhouse Dinamo Zagreb, they paid a club record sum of £6.3 million, and it appeared to be a true declaration of purpose on the part of Pep Clotet.

That hasn’t exactly worked out, though, and after almost five years, Sunjic appears certain to depart St Andrew’s this summer when his contract expires.

The period that Ivan Sunjic spent with Birmingham City

Ivan Sunjic is undoubtedly a gifted player, but it has been challenging for him to perform to his full potential at St Andrew’s.

To be fair, he hasn’t helped himself by playing for a subpar team that has consistently finished lower in the Championship standings since he came in the summer of 2019.

In his first season with St Andrew’s, Sunjic made 41 appearances and scored three goals. It was a mostly successful first season, and there were hopes that the young player would improve in the ensuing seasons.

But the next season, Sunjic only contributed one goal while playing 45 games. The next season was much the same, and even though he made 44 games for the Blues, he wasn’t exactly the world’s most exciting player.

Sunjic’s tenure at Birmingham City is best described as solid but unspectacular.

He hasn’t exactly been the team’s worst player in recent seasons, but he hasn’t exactly been all that great either, save from the occasional flash of elegance.

He appeared to have finished his stint at St Andrew’s when he was loaned to the relegated Hertha Berlin of the Bundesliga in the 2022–2023 season, but he has since rejoined the first team.

This season, he has made 35 appearances for Birmingham; in February, he even donned the captain’s armband for the team’s matches against Sheffield Wednesday and West Brom.

Sunjic’s future at St Andrew’s is uncertain as his contract is set to end this summer, but if he were to go, it’s reasonable to suggest that he would go down as a flop given the money they paid for him in 2019.

Ivan Sunjic has no desire to play for Birmingham City in League One.

Birmingham City is still in risk of dropping to League One even after their recent, crucial victory over Preston.

Any hope of keeping Sunjic will undoubtedly vanish if they are relegated; as a Croatian international, he will likely believe that League One is beneath him.

If Sunjic is relegated, the club believes they will not be able to pay his wages, as the player is now predicted to make £17,500 per week, according to Capology.

Sunjic will likely need a fresh start in the summer, and as his contract is about to expire, now would be the ideal time for him to depart.

Sunjic’s tenure with Birmingham City has been incredibly unsatisfactory overall.

Though he has shown flashes of his potential, he has most likely not performed well enough to warrant the club spending a record £6.3 million to acquire him.