Will selling Jay Stansfield prove to be the right decision?

In his debut article, Noah Langford weighs up the pros and cons of letting our starlet go to Birmingham.

As another busy summer transfer window for the Whites closes, another promising young talent leaves. Along with fellow U21 internationals Fabio Carvahlo and Harvey Elliott, Jay Stansfield marks the third high-profile departure from the academy in the last five years. Some fans may see this as the third time lucky – with Stansfield’s hefty transfer fee the fifth-largest sum the club have ever received for a player – but there is definitely still disappointment in the fanbase at losing another player so late in the window, one whose time to flourish in the premier league seemed to have finally arrived.

So, have Fulham finally cashed in at the right time? And if not, how costly could this be?

High reward

When it comes to keeping young players under contract, it’s safe to say that the Khans have learnt their lesson. Every Fulham fan can understand the appeal of a move to a club like Liverpool, who lured Carvahlo and Elliott away from regular first team football at the cottage at a low cost. A collective £6.2m in base transfer fees (after arbitration), for players who easily could have cost upwards of £15m each with another year on their contracts, is a measly return on years of academy training and investment.

In comparison, receiving a fee which could rise to £20m, as well as a 20% sell-on clause, for one significantly older player looks like an exceptional bit of business, especially considering Italy and Juventus star Federico Chiesa’s move to Liverpool on the same day for a (somehow) smaller fee.

Fulham’s position on selling Stansfield this summer was clear: it was going to take an eye-watering amount of cash, and in the end, that’s what was achieved. A fee that quadrupled the previous League One record signing is handsome compensation for a player with just 91 Premier League minutes under his belt.

High risk

However, there are good reasons for Birmingham breaking the bank. Jay represented about the only bright spark in a dismal season for the blues last year, recording a double-digit scoring tally despite playing under three different managers. He has looked comfortable at every level he has played, recording 30 G/A across the Football League in the last two seasons and outperforming his xG in both campaigns, while retaining the ability to play anywhere across the attack.

This ability to score, and be clinical from multiple positions, could have been vital in the Premier League this year. Stansfield’s departure coming on the final day of the transfer window means that Fulham have placed more faith than ever in the enigma that is Rodrigo Muniz, who has not managed to replicate last season’s form over the first month of this campaign. With the ever-inconsistent Raul Jimenez providing little reassurance from the bench, retaining Stansfield could be proven more valuable than the £15m he left for.

So, on balance, this lucrative transfer prevents the club feeling robbed of an academy graduate as it has previously. But a departure in an already unreliable area leaves the club in a vulnerable position should our attack falter in the coming months. Only time will determine how much, or how quickly, we will miss Jay Stansfield this season.