Birmingham City opinion: Blues should sign Rafa Mir as a long-term prospect

According to Birmingham Live, Birmingham City are interested in signing Spanish U-21 striker Rafa Mir from Premier League outfit Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Birmingham Live understands that City are still in the market for a like-to-like replacement for Che Adams, who departed St. Andrew’s to join Southamtpon earlier in the summer.

However, if the Blues are really serious about getting their hands on Rafa Mir, they have to fend off interest from Real Zaragoza as well as a number of other clubs in Spain. (h/t Birmingham Live)

City have already bagged a few scalps in the transfer window this summer after a rather sluggish start to life under new caretaker manager Pep Clotet, who took over the reins from former boss Garry Monk last month.

Aston Villa loanee Gary Gardner’s loan deal has been turned into a permanent one, while England U-21 captain Jake Clarke-Salter has been brought in on loan from Chelsea.

Influential playmaker Dan Crowley has also arrived from Eredivisie outfit Willem II but the capture of Croatian international midfielder Ivan Sunjic was a terrific move. 

However, City are yet to replace last season’s top-scorer Che Adams and while Lukas Jutkiewicz is expected to be a key component of the club’s strike force next term, the Blues need a fast and agile striker to support him.

Meanwhile, Rafa Mir is yet to return to pre-season training with Wolves after winning the UEFA U-21 European Championship with Spain this month.

The promising 22-year-old centre-forward spent the previous season on loan at UD Las Palmas in the Spanish second-tier, where he netted 7 times in 30 appearances in all competitions. 

A youth product of Valencia, Mir featured largely for the reserve side of his boyhood club and found regular opportunities hard to come by in the senior team, making only 6 appearances in all competitions before reuniting with his former manager Nuno Espirito Santo at Wolves in January 2018. 

Mir made a couple of substitute appearances for Wolves in the club’s promotion-winning 2017-18 campaign in the Championship, spending time with the development side.

The 22-year-old was loaned out to Las Palmas last summer in order for him to get regular minutes under his belt. 

To put things into perspective, Mir is not really in the first-team frame of things at Molineux but the Spanish starlet might as well be the man to answer Birmingham City’s prayers for an ideal alternative to Che Adams.

The 22-year-old is yet to prove his goalscoring pedigree at the highest level but he is rated very highly and has been widely tipped to go on and make a name for himself in Europe. 

Now, Birmingham City would probably have to splash out a fortune to bring in a bonafide goalscorer in the Championship as a replacement for Adams but it is worth remembering that Adams was hardly a proven material when he arrived at St. Andrew’s from Sheffield United in 2016. 

Conclusion

A former non-league star with Oadby Town and Ilkeston, Adams rose to great heights with Birmingham City by his sheer dint of merit and hard work.

Keeping that in mind, bringing in Rafa Mir for a thrifty amount could prove beneficial to the Blues’ plans moving forward. With Clotet at the helm of affairs, the Spaniard might be able to extract the best out of his compatriot.

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The 6ft 3in Spaniard seemingly has the power, physicality and the general scoring nous to taste success in the Championship and the Blues should look at him as a long-term prospect rather than as an immediate replacement for Adams.