Birmingham City are the fifth lowest scorers in the Championship – but will hope to improve that against Portsmouth this weekend
17:10, 30 Oct 2025
Kanya Fujimoto of Birmingham City
As Chris Davies searches for the right combination to unlock Birmingham City’s goal potential, one of the few options he has not tried is Kanya Fujimoto.
The Japanese attacker arrived from Gil Vicente in the summer, signing a three-year contract and seemingly giving Blues a sought-after option in the No. 10 role.
However, he has played just one minute of Championship football and his only start, in the Carabao Cup loss to Port Vale, ended at half time.
With Blues struggling for creativity Fujimoto’s inclusion on the bench in the last four games – but failure to get off it – will not have escaped Davies’ attention.
Just as he did last month the manager suggested the 26-year-old is on the right path – and assured him he well get his opportunity at some point.
“I think he has got better,” Davies said. “He’s one of those that came injured obviously and was injured for quite a while.
“Then he came in and we’d get him fit and he played the Port Vale match, which was his first start, he came at the end of the Sheffield Wednesday match.
“He’s getting there, he’s training, he’s getting better, he’s improving as we go along.
“I do see game time for him in the future but he’s obviously got competition for places, in terms of we’ve got other strikers that can play there or midfielders.
“So he’s got to kind of earn his place in the team but he is improving, he’s growing and obviously at some point deservedly will get his chance.”
Davies has flitted between his traditional 4-2-3-1, in which Fujimoto would easily fit as the No. 10, while also using a 4-3-3 with Paik Seung-ho and Tommy Doyle as more advanced midfielders.
He thinks Fujimoto can be deployed in both set-ups.
“He’s a what you would call a classic ten, left footed, can play in between the lines but could play, definitely as an 8 in a 4-3-3, a very attacking 8, or could play off the right and just invert slightly off the side – so he could play in a few different positions.
“His attitude’s exceptional, he trains really well, there’s no issues there.
“I think it was a case for him it’s a case of getting up to speed, the Championship, the physicality of it, the training, the intensity of the training, everything else that comes along with it.
“He’s working well, there’s a few others that are working well as well that have just been ahead of him in the pecking order basically but he’s not far away.”
Would you like to see Fujimoto given a chance? Have your say here
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