Birmingham City will aim to contend for promotion to the Premier League next season.

The Blues were promoted from League One in 2025 with high hopes of immediately gaining promotion again, however this did not happen.

Chris Davies led the team to a tenth-place finish, and they will now aim for at least a top-eight finish, with the playoffs expanding to include two more teams beginning next season.

Owners Knighthead Capital have made significant investments in the club in recent years, with the goal of returning the Midlands team to the top flight.

The business owns Birmingham through a subsidiary in Knighthead, Shelby Companies Limited (SCL), and they completed their ownership of the club in January 2025, having initially purchased a stake in July 2023.

Tom Wagner has become the face of Knighthead Capital, although Tom Brady remains a minority shareholder in the Championship team.

Birmingham City’s owners invest £72 million into the team.

Birmingham Live reports that SCL has issued approximately £72 million in shares to the Midlands outfit in order to raise financing.

Companies House records show that the club’s owners issued 71,770,400 new shares, which were purchased for £1 apiece.

Meanwhile, minority owners purchased an additional 380,723 shares at a lower price, raising almost £72 million for Birmingham.

This will help their cash flow as they hope to be active during the summer transfer window.

The Championship club has made only two acquisitions since the end of the season, with Dael Fry joining as a free agent following his departure from Middlesbrough.

Jhon Solis has also signed on a permanent basis, having spent the second part of the previous season on loan at St. Andrew’s.

Birmingham are looking for a new sports director following Craig Gardner’s departure, and a new recruitment chief will be crucial to their transfer plans.

The first-team squad has returned to training for pre-season, but the Blues have until September 1 to make any more signings.

And the fresh £72 million injection should assist bring in players, but Birmingham will also have to be careful of the new Squad Cost Ratio (SCR) financing restrictions, considering their recent hefty spending under Wagner.

Knighthead Capital remains dedicated to Birmingham.

Knighthead Capital’s issuance of new shares is not the first time they have done so since taking over Birmingham, and it demonstrates their continuous commitment.

Their ultimate ambition is to be promoted to the Premier League, and they have made significant strides in that direction, as well as progress in the construction of a new stadium.

However, the absence of a new sporting director has hampered their summer transfer business thus far, which is surprising given their previous success.

The sooner Gardner’s replacement is found, the sooner additional players will be added to Davies’ roster as the team looks to challenge for promotion next season.