It’s the January transfer market, but for Birmingham City it may well be remembered as the August window.
August Priske is now officially a Birmingham City player after a saga which was short but certainly interesting. The Danish striker has moved from Djurgårdens IF, after a few days of negotiations had the desired impact.
On January 15th, it was reported in Denmark that Chris Davies’ club had dropped a transfer bomb. Birmingham City were presented as being close to an agreement for last season’s Allsvenskan top goalscorer. The Blues were leading the race, and had almost secured personal terms too.
August Priske was always meant to be a big sale for the Swedish side, and a few months ago Bosse Andersson, their sports director, predicted a record breaker.
That would have meant Birmingham City paying more than €20m, with Bosse saying: “Yes, I’m completely convinced of that. Yes, he will beat Lucas Bergvall anyway. Otherwise, he will play in Djurgården in 2026. I think August Priske will go to a really big club.”
The Blues, it would appear, haven’t even paid half of that. FC Midtjylland are due 40% of the profit, from agreement when they sold Priske to Djurgårdens IF.
Bosse has now accepted he hasn’t secured a record deal, but the director sounds pleased for his player and content with Birmingham City negotiations.
“Birmingham City is a great club”
Swedish newspaper Expressen quote him as saying: “It’s our second biggest transfer of all time. Of course he’s a top scorer in the Swedish league. We had a market where we could have gotten a better transfer fee, but overall it’s good for Djurgården, August and there’s a clear sporting plan for him there. It puts the player at the centre. Then Birmingham City is a great club.
“We had concrete proposals. At the same time, August got to talk to a number of clubs. But the club we talked to the most was Birmingham. If August is there long-term, it will be a great transfer with a transfer fee and a nice bonus that we are very happy with.”
August Priske is bursting with excitement
August Priske himself comes across as a polite young footballer.
The 21-year-old is excited about his move to England and explained: “It feels very fun and exciting to come to Birmingham. A big club that is in the midst of an intensive investment right now. So I’m really looking forward to this.
“I had a meeting with the sporting director and the coach and got a very good impression of them. Good people who have a clear idea and vision of how they want to work, in a way that I believe will take the club forward. Birmingham City have also invested a lot lately and has a high level of ambition which I like.”
