The Blues may have made a groundbreaking move with this.
Although Birmingham City isn’t in the best spot in the Championship league standings, this acquisition might have a huge long-term good impact on the team.
Former Manchester City sporting director named to Birmingham
The Telegraph has reported that Mike Rigg, a former executive at Manchester City, has been appointed by City.
In one month, he will become a member of the club, with a focus on the academy.
They also stated that the American owners of the club have given him a “wide brief,” and they are unsure of the precise title of his function at this time.
Early in October 2023, Football Insider revealed that the club was interested in the prospective hire. A month later, the article stated that they had apparently reached an agreement for him to start in January.
According to The Telegraph, Rigg is considered a critical hire. During his eight years with the Citizens (2008–2012), he was responsible for overseeing the proper use of all the funds invested by the club’s new owners, from the purchase of Sergio Aguero to the acquisition of 13-year-old Joe Hardy from Tranmere Rovers, he told Goal.
He was closely involved in every transfer that took place at the time, including the acquisitions of David Silva and Yaya Toure, and he established a particular methodology for evaluating their targets. Regarding the Toure contract, he told Goal: “What we try and do is watch players in different situations – home game, away game, against the top club, against the bottom club, before a big game, after a big game, before a Champions League game.”
Birmingham should benefit from Rigg’s extremely meticulous approach to talent identification and the hiring process as he settles into his new role. The former sporting director has previously held positions with Burnley and Fulham, two Premier League teams.
Birmingham’s talent factory
The Blues have an amazing track record of developing elite talent in the football globe, particularly in recent years. Jude and Jobe Bellingham are the first names that immediately spring to mind.
The England midfielder was sold by the team in 2020 at the age of 17, for a record-breaking £25 million, the most any player has ever brought to the Blues.
They also collected at least £4.3 million in add-ons as a consequence of that agreement when Real Madrid acquired the now-20-year-old during the summer transfer window.
This summer, his younger sibling also made a move. Like his brother, he moved from Birmingham to Sunderland for £3 million when he was 17, according to the Daily Mail.
Former Leicester City and Everton winger Demarai Gray, who is currently playing in Saudi Arabia, is one of the other talented players that came through the program in recent years.
Tobey Ugorji, the striker for Birmingham’s under-16 team, is reportedly drawing interest from Premier League and Ligue 1 teams, according to Football Insider.
Rigg appointment will help Birmingham’s talent cycle keep going
The club have become, rightfully, reliant on profiting from the talents that come through their youth system, and why shouldn’t they? Clubs with more wealth are always going to try and snap up cheaper talents where they can, and City have proven that they can produce the best of them.
With Rigg coming in, this process shouldn’t slow down. If anything, it may get ramped up a notch. The club’s owners aren’t short of cash, with an estimated worth of $9 billion, but having this turnover from player sales sure helps.
The appointment of the former Man City executive also shows that the new owners seem to be getting more of the big decisions right. Sacking John Eustace while they were in the play-off places, early in the season, to bring in Wayne Rooney, proved to be a big mistake. You look at where they are now, which is just outside the relegation places on goal difference alone, and you’ve got to wonder how things could have gone differently, had they not got that wrong.
| Championship Table (As it stands March 28th) |
|
Team |
P |
GD |
Pts |
| 17 |
Blackburn Rovers |
38 |
-13 |
42 |
| 18 |
Plymouth Argyle |
38 |
-8 |
41 |
| 19 |
Stoke City |
38 |
-18 |
41 |
| 20 |
QPR |
38 |
-14 |
40 |
| 21 |
Birmingham City |
38 |
-17 |
39 |
| 22 |
Huddersfield Town |
38 |
-19 |
39 |
| 23 |
Sheffield Wednesday |
38 |
-31 |
38 |
| 24 |
Rotherham United |
38 |
-47 |
20 |
Bringing in Rigg certainly appears to be a step in the right direction, but it’s one that will garner more long-term benefits than short-term ones, which is what they’re hoping their fourth manager of the season, Gary Rowett, can provide.
