Pep Guardiola comment makes Birmingham City the envy of the Championship
Birmingham City have completed the signing of Tommy Doyle on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers
Birmingham City reporter for BirminghamLive and the Birmingham Mail
Birmingham City have beaten a host of Championship and Premier League teams to Tommy Doyle in a statement signing that will be hard to top this summer.
Blues are set to bring proven Premier League performer Demarai Gray back to St Andrew’s and former Celtic goal-getter Kyogo Furuhashi is on their list, but signing a 23-year-old who has spent the last two seasons earning positive reviews in the best league in the world is a strong start to the window.
Doyle joins from Wolves, initially on a season-long loan, having made 50 appearances in the Premier League over the past two seasons at Molineux.
Admittedly, Doyle was a closer of Premier League matches last season, making only three starts and appearing off Wolves’ bench 21 times, but in the previous campaign he made 11 starts and produced some notable performances.
He played every minute of Wolves’ run to the FA Cup quarter-finals with wins over Brentford, West Bromwich Albion and Brighton.
Premier League minutes dried up for Doyle following the appointment of Vitor Pereira. The Portuguese questioned Doyle’s suitability to Wolves’ counter-attacking style in the Premier League.
You can’t help but feel Doyle won’t have any issues operating in a possession-based side in the Championship, after all that is the type of football he played in Manchester City‘s academy and during his most fruitful loan spell at Sheffield United.
City boss Guardiola used Doyle in one Premier League game in 2020 – a 5-0 victory over Newcastle United – and was complimentary of him afterwards, saying: "He's a player with a special quality. He takes it, shoots. Another Man City fan. A historic family, the historic Doyle family."
Guardiola was referencing Doyle’s two grandads, both of whom enjoyed long and distinguished careers with Man City.
Kyle Walker added: "Tommy, what a great player. And a good lad as well. An exciting talent, he wants to learn and it's a pleasure working with him. I've seen plenty of kids come through the ranks at numerous clubs with a chip on their shoulder but he's very good and very down to earth."
Chris Davies insists on Blues signing good characters. At the start of this transfer window the Blues boss re-emphasised the importance of ‘keeping the wrong players out’.
Doyle acknowledged that Blues will be dealing with plenty of expectations this season and his arrival will only heighten them.
That is something to embrace, not shy away from. Doyle said: “Everybody wants to be a Premier League footballer. When I was at Wolves I played around 50 games in the Premier League but, of course, if it’s not consistent you want to strive for more. Hopefully I can play a lot of games here and the main goal is to take this club to the Premier League.”
The rest of the Championship are watching on enviously as Blues cherry-pick the best players. At this level, Doyle is unquestionably among the best.