This article is part of Football FanCast's Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba's haircuts to League Two relegation battles...

Hopefully the club and the player can get on the same page soon enough.

Having scored his first goal for the club against Middlesbrough last Friday night, Blues midfielder Fran Villalba has talked about the lofty ambitions he hopes to achieve whilst at St Andrew’s.

The Spaniard spoke to Spanish outlet Super Deporte (translated via Sportwitness), in which he outlined how there were many teams after him in the window and exactly why he joined the Blues:

“I had teams here in Spain, but after all, I had to take a step forward, I had to look for my future, and I think I chose well. I think we were right because that option was the best for me. Both me, as my girlfriend, as my parents and my representatives, we all knew that we had to go there and struggle through.

"We took a gamble, I decided to go play there because it is a league that I like, that will help me, and hopefully we are very close to playing in the Premier League; that is one of the best leagues in the world.”

You do wonder with those comments if Villalba did his research before he joined. Birmingham City weren’t exactly in the best of situations financially after their run-in with Financial Fair Play last year, and with boss Pep Clotet still relatively new in the job, they’re not exactly in the best of positions to make a run for promotion this season.

He even mentions later in the article about how competitive the division is with the likes of Fulham, Swansea City, Leeds United and West Bromwich Albion more or less equipped to compete in the Premier League.

Therefore, it’s not as if a club like Birmingham are among the favourites to push for promotion straight away.

However, if Villalba has the ambition to get into the Premier League eventually, and you can’t really blame him for it, then it is up to the club to try and match it or they may risk losing him.

Be it with an injection of cash in the transfer window, or perhaps in a harsher move, a change in the dugout for a manager with a better chance of going up, the club need to do something to convince them to stay for the long term.

Players like Nathan Redmond, Demarai Gray and Che Adams haven't had their ambitions matched and moved onto the Premier League as a result.

Consequently, they can't afford a similar situation to arise with Villalba, particularly if he caused as much interest in the summer as he states.

He may be a new face but his goals are completely understandable and Birmingham should be striving for the promised land.

There’s only so long a player can be happy playing in the second tier before wanting to make that push into the big time. So the question is, will he be there with the Blues or without them? Only time will tell.