Birmingham City won't want to become even more of a laughing stock next season if they struggle in League One, with the expectation being that the Blues will make promotion back up to the third tier look straightforward, instead of a gruelling ordeal.
Yet, Bolton Wanderers – another sleeping giant finding themselves in the lowly division – failed to win promotion out of the league in 2023/24, whilst Portsmouth winning promotion last campaign was a welcome relief from the South Coast outfit's perspective, having been marooned at the level since 2017.
The West Midlands club will just need to take the gutting pain of being relegated and use that agony as fuel to instantly bounce back, with Chris Davies now occupying the managerial hot seat after walking out of Tottenham Hotspur where he was assistant manager.
Davies will hope he can rely on the exploits of Koji Miyoshi in the league below, with the former Royal Antwerp attacker a revelation for the Blues in the Championship, despite their eventual relegation fate.
Koji Miyoshi's numbers for Birmingham
The Japanese attacking midfielder, who can play down the right wing or through the centre as a number ten, is a glowing example of a transfer gamble paying off, having arrived in England as an unknown entity last summer on a free transfer from Belgium.
Miyoshi would go on to amass seven goals and six assists from 48 appearances, with the nimble 27-year-old even netting on the final day to try and pull off a great escape for his unfortunate employers in a narrow 1-0 win over Norwich City.
There could be a slight worry now that Miyoshi might well be targeted by clubs higher up than League One – with the exciting attacker capped by Japan in the past – but Davies will have his fingers crossed he stays put to lead his team back up to the second-tier.
With only the departing Jay Stansfield and midfield teammate Juninho Bacunu picking more goal contributions last season, the "intelligent" Miyoshi – as he was described by former Blues boss Tony Mowbray – could be a real handful for third-tier defences to contain, having shown he can tear up the league above on his day.
Miyoshi standing out for his relegated side next campaign will only make the capture of the Japanese gem for nothing look more and more like a steal, especially if he is gifted hero status in guiding Birmingham back up to the Championship, which will see his transfer value increase.
Miyoshi's transfer value in 2024
According to Football Transfers, Davies' men would already be making a pretty profit on the 27-year-old if they did elect to sell him on this off-season if a suitor was interested, with his valuation now standing at £1.5m.
Birmingham will be thanking their lucky stars that they took a punt on the ex-Antwerp man, therefore, who is now worth more than experienced goalkeeper John Ruddy – who is worth a lesser £1.1m – despite the ex-Norwich shot-stopper accumulating an eye-watering 352 EFL games across his long-lasting career to date.
June 2024
£1.5m
July 2023
£0
October 2022
£846k
January 2021
£1m
July 2020
£1m
On the contrary, when glancing at the table above, his former employers back in Belgium must feel enraged that they allowed Miyoshi to walk away for nothing, as Antwerp's loss becomes Birmingham's major gain.
Of course, there's no guarantees that Miyoshi will excel in League One – with the division an unforgiving beast for a sleeping giant – but he should be able to make the transition comfortably, after taking to the cut and thrust of the Championship smoothly.
Davies will hope he doesn't start life in the dug-out at St. Andrew's nervously, wanting the likes of Miyoshi and Co to shine all season long, with promotion then ultimately achieved.
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