Jay Stansfield has started life on loan away from Fulham brilliantly with Championship side Birmingham City.
His current manager John Eustace has been very complimentary about his start to life in the second tier.
There are very high hopes for young forward Jay Stansfield at Craven Cottage.
Initially signed from Exeter City in 2019, Stansfield made his debut six months later in the FA Cup against Aston Villa.
A league debut quickly followed with anticipation growing around the teenage striker.
Birmingham City would have already been well aware of his talents before his loan spell started last month.
He scored the goal of the round in the EFL Cup against them back in 2021, before heading back to his old club Exeter on loan last season.
The England Under-20 international scored nine goals in 39 appearances on the south coast before returning to his parent club for pre-season.
Stansfield featured in the USA on Fulham’s pre-season tour before joining Birmingham City on loan.
He’s been fantastic at his new club, scoring three times in his first four games as Birmingham hope to look up the table rather than over their shoulders for the first time in years.
Stansfield thriving away from Fulham on loan
Speaking after their 2-1 defeat to Preston on Tuesday night, Birmingham manager John Eustace said: “He is an outstanding talent.
“We know he can play in a number of positions. He took his goal fantastically well. It was a great move and a great ball from Koji (Miyoshi).
“It’s something we have been working on. We have good footballers in the team and tonight we showcased that we can actually play football as well.”
Stansfield has already featured in the Premier League, nearly scoring against Brentford last season.
However, asking him to step up in Aleksandar Mitrovic’s place would have been a huge ask.
Stansfield could have been a very useful option off the bench this season but his loan move is already looking like a great decision.
A season of regularly scoring in the Championship sets him up to play a much more significant role for Fulham next year.
He’s a natural goalscorer, a determined runner and technically proficient.
Stansfield isn’t a physical specimen like Mitrovic was, while Raul Jimenez and Carlos Vinicius aren’t exactly easy to push off the ball but also only have one goal between them this season.
But if the 20-year-old knows where the back of the net is at the very highest level, then he’s got a huge future ahead of him.