In one of the transfer sagas of the summer, League One Birmingham City made a push to land Jay Stansfield on a permanent deal from Fulham.
Despite relegation from the Championship, the 21-year-old enjoyed a productive loan spell with the Blues last season.
In 43 league appearances, Stansfield scored 12 goals and assisted twice to win over the faithful fans at the Midlands club.
As such, relegation to League One seemingly ended all hope of a return, until their ambitious owners made a huge push late in the summer window.
Birmingham made a transfer-record bid to Fulham for Stansfield just days after the striker scored for the London outfit against his former club in the Carabao Cup.
In a huge rush, the deal was eventually pushed over the line and the striker made the move which caught headlines.
With much of the excitement and anticipation now out of the way, the former Fulham man has to get down to work, which started on Tuesday.
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How Jay Stansfield performed on second Birmingham City debut
So with the move complete, many Fulham fans and those supporting other clubs will be intrigued as to how the striker will perform.
Stansfield got given his first start in a Bristol Street Motors trophy match against League Two side Walsall at St. Andrew’s.
The League One record-signing got a few sightings at goal and even set up a few chances for teammates, but couldn’t quite find that goal involvement to kickstart his return to the club.
Birmingham had to settle for a draw on the night, which meant a penalty shootout to decide which team earned an extra point from the competition.
Stansfield slotted away his spot-kick but misses elsewhere in the team meant that it was the visitors who took the extra point.
Chris Davies verdict on Jay Stansfield debut
So with the second debut now completed for Stansfield, with a less-than-ideal result, Birmingham boss Chris Davies explained some of his decision-making over his team selection.
The new recruit linked up with Alfie May in the forward ranks, which was described as an “experiment” by the former Tottenham coach.
“With Jay, he’s a player that I see more running in behind, on the shoulder, making those movements,” Davies said. “He can drop and link a little bit.
“Today was a bit of an experiment in terms of playing them [Stansfield and May] both together and seeing how they linked up.”
Stansfield also got plenty of stick from the away supporters over his price tag, to which Davies said: “I thought he coped with it pretty well.
“He’s probably going to get a bit of that, I would say, but I don’t see that fazing him too much. I think it can be water off a duck’s back.”
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What’s next for Jay Stansfield?
The former Fulham star was set to face his old loan club Exeter City over the weekend, though that has since been rearranged due to international call-ups.
Instead, Stansfield’s next appearance is likely to be against Wrexham on Monday, September 16.
With that match being televised, there will be plenty of eyes on the man making all of the headlines after leaving Craven Cottage.
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