It is understood that the Blues valued Dembele at between £1 million and £1.5 million, with the wide player also linked with moves to Sky Bet Championship sides Blackburn Rovers and Swansea City earlier in the summer.
The U’s though are believed to have paid shy of £1m to land Dembele, although the fee still broke the club’s record transfer fee, surpassing the money spent on Dean Windass in 1998, and Marvin Johnson in 2016.
We spoke to the Birmingham Mail’s Blues reporter Alex Dicken to get the lowdown on Dembele.
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What kind of player is Dembele? What are his main qualities and strengths?
Dembele has fantastic technique and carries the ball extremely well. He has good acceleration, which allows him to work a yard of space to create shooting and crossing opportunities.
Dembele proved that he can thrive in a functional team in the Championship last season and contributed six goals in the first half of the season.
Dembele’s regarded as a winger, but can he play in other roles?
We didn’t see Dembele play anywhere but out wide in his short Blues career. He reluctantly played on the right flank a few times under Wayne Rooney. Dembele prefers the left wing and made that clear shortly after signing for Blues last year.
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What impact did he have during his time with Birmingham, and why were the club happy to let him leave?
He was superb at the beginning. Dembele was the toast of Birmingham after a scintillating performance against Huddersfield in early October.
A matter of days later, John Eustace was sacked and Dembele lost his way. Eustace created a role within the team for Dembele that allowed him to focus largely on attacking with minimal defensive responsibilities, and the other managers who led Blues last season refused to do the same.
Dembele showed glimpses under Rooney and Tony Mowbray, but he lost his place in the team in the final four months of last season.
New Blues manager Chris Davies was initially keen to work with Dembele but stressed that he must complete his defensive duties to stay in the team.
After being trusted to start on the opening day against Reading, Dembele was hooked at half-time and not seen again. Davies clearly decided that Dembele wasn’t for him after all.
Do you think he has the ability and potential to make a contribution in the Championship?
There is no denying Dembele’s ability. He has Premier League potential if he marries up his attacking skills with a willingness to work back and help out his full back. He didn’t do that during his brief spell at Blues and lost the trust of multiple managers.