Nicolai Brock-Madsen was a marquee signing for Birmingham City in 2015 but the move didn't work out

Birmingham City have taken a shine to a number of Danish centre-forwards down the years.

With six goals in 11 league matches this term August Priske, a £6m acquisition from Djurgarden in January, is offering a return on investment. Nicklas Bendtner proved to be a hit on loan two decades ago.

Nicolai Brock-Madsen was the Priske or the Bendtner of his time.

Back in 2015, when cash was at a premium for Blues manager Gary Rowett, the club spent £500,000 on a 22-year-old Brock-Madsen who had caught the eye playing for Randers in the Danish Superliga.

This was before the takeover and the silly summer of 2017, when Blues signed 14 players and spent the best part of £30million. A £500,000 transfer was big business for Blues at the time and Brock-Madsen had to deal with that expectation.

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Signed to learn the ropes from the vastly experienced Clayton Donaldson, Brock-Madsen was used sparingly by Rowett as Blues made a strong start to the 2015/16 season.

“They had Clayton and the plan was for me to come in as a second striker. I needed to build up to it and wait for my chance,” Brock-Madsen reflects 11 years later during an appearance on the Keep Right On Podcast.

Twenty-one minutes against Nottingham Forest, 17 against Rotherham and 11 against Wolves, plus a catalogue of watching briefs from the bench gave Brock-Madsen an idea of what the Championship entailed before an injury to Donaldson presented him with his chance.

Three straight starts followed against Charlton, Brighton and Huddersfield. Little did Brock-Madsen know that it would make or break his Blues career.

The striker wasn’t ready to deliver and Rowett turned elsewhere. Brock-Madsen didn’t play again that season.

Brock-Madsen went away to represent Denmark at the Olympics that summer and returned determined to play – either at Blues or elsewhere. A late loan move to Dutch side PEC Zwolle provided him with what he needed.

He scored 11 goals in 26 matches, including seven in the Eredivisie, to reignite a career that had stalled at St Andrew’s. The option to join Zwolle permanently was regrettably passed up.

“When I was in Zwolle, it was stupid for me not to stay there,” he admits now. “I wanted to go back to Birmingham because I wanted to show myself.

“But to play in the Eredivisie, it was a good place for me at the time to keep developing. It was a bad decision from me but my advisors should have been there to tell me to stay there. There was nothing waiting for me in Birmingham.

“I hadn't had a conversation with the club where they said, 'OK Brock, we look forward to having you back, you will get a chance'. I knew there was nothing promised to me and they had a new manager.

“In England every time you get a new manager the manager wants to do it his way. When I came back it was a different club. The club got sold and Harry Redknapp was there when I came back. There was no chance.

“He had his own agenda about what he wanted to do. He wanted to bring high profile players in and fight for promotion.”

Turning down a permanent move to Holland proved to be the sliding doors moment in Brock-Madsen’s career. A fresh loan to Cracovia in 2018 wasn’t as successful and Brock-Madsen ended that year with St Mirren in Scotland.

Six months before his Blues contract expired it was mutually terminated.

“I was disappointed to leave in that manner. In the end my loan spell to St Mirren was not the best idea.

“I had a year left on my contract when I went there and I had a lot of offers back in Denmark to get a long deal to get some consistency.

“I needed to have a place to have my mind there, instead of moving to a new club every five or six months.

“When I went back to Denmark I was 26 or 27, that was not what I'd hoped for. I saw myself having a longer career abroad, especially in England. That's also why I went to St Mirren, I got told a lot of English clubs still look at the Scottish league.”

Brock-Madsen has regrets about his playing career. A lack of guidance was a contributing factor and that is why he has stepped into the world of football agency since retirement.

Now 33, Brock-Madsen is trying to help others avoid some of the traps he fell into during his playing career.

“I was not 100 percent I wanted to do agency when I stopped but I knew I wanted to do something where I could help players become better, especially because I felt I had a few experiences in that regard where I should definitely have done something different.”

The move to Blues isn’t one of Brock-Madsen’s regrets.

“I will never regret my move to Blues,” he insists. “I had a fantastic time outside football, also inside football but I would have liked to play more and done much better for the club.

“I always follow Blues and look at their results. It's not so often I watch the games because it's not easy to watch here in Denmark, but I'm very happy to see a Danish guy do well in Birmingham.”

Priske has received the time and support to settle that Brock-Madsen wasn’t afforded.

Brock-Madsen added: “A lot of times you will see as a footballer, the first season you need to adjust and the second season it gets better because your teammates know you, you know your role, you know the league. You can really see that he has done well and I'm happy for him.

“One time I need to come over and watch a game at Blues' stadium. That's always an amazing place to be and I will say hello to him there.”