Advanced talks: Birmingham City make bid to sign 25 y/o midfielder for £0

Birmingham City are preparing for a return to the second-tier of English football and have now cast their eye to the continent for a potential bargain signing.

Birmingham City’s summer activity ahead of Championship return underway

Quick off the mark after securing the League One title in remarkable fashion, Birmingham have already wrapped up the permanent signing of Phil Neumann.

Speaking ahead of featuring at St Andrews, German defender Neumann believes that the Blues can earn promotion to the Premier League following his move from Hannover on a free transfer.

He stated: “I always wanted to play in England. Birmingham is such a big club with a big history, and they fought hard for me and gave me a good feeling. I can’t wait to play my first game here, meet the fans and also meet my team-mates. It’s a nice stadium, a really nice pitch and I’m really happy to be here.

“I think the club is not where it belongs and hopefully I can help the club get back to the Premier League.”

Kwame Poku, Mark Travers and Harry Darling are all reported Birmingham targets, which lends credence to Neumann’s opinion that Birmingham have the power to become a Premier League force before too long.

Related

Birmingham can make Stansfield better by signing “outstanding” EFL star

Birmingham City would look immediately more confident in attack in the Championship if they signed this outstanding forward.

Nevertheless, the Championship is a major step up in quality for Chris Davies, who still has to make decisions on the future of Grant Hanley and Lee Myung-jae ahead of next campaign.

While he takes his time over potential departures, Birmingham are continuing to be active on the transfer front and are now advancing in their pursuit of a top-flight midfielder.

Birmingham in advanced talks for Kanya Fujimoto after offer

According to journalist Sebastiao Sousa-Pinto on X, Birmingham have submitted an offer for Gil Vicente attacking midfielder Kanya Fujimoto and talks are believed to be at an advanced stage.

It isn’t yet certain that he will end up at St Andrews, but steps are moving in the right direction to close a deal that would see him arrive on a free transfer following the expiration of his contract at the Primeira Liga outfit.

Earning a reputation as a forward-thinking asset, Fujimoto, 25, has registered five goals and six assists across 33 matches in all competitions this season.

Ultimately, Birmingham will need to balance spending considerable fees with finding value for money on the market in order to fulfill their aspirations of being a competitive force in the second-tier.

Fujimoto, who shares the same CAA Base agency as Ben Davies, is operating at a distinguished level and would be seen as a coup by many Championship onlookers, though it now remains to be seen whether the Blues can push a statement deal over the line.