Birmingham City sign ex-England goalkeeper and Sunderland gem in bold new transfer window prediction
Chris Mason will hope to make more additions to his Blues squad in January
Birmingham City haven’t quite hit the heights of a push for Premier League promotion that some fans were hoping for on their return to the Championship, but after three months back in the big time they look more than capable of staying up and even achieving a mid-table finish.
However, strengthening the squad in the January transfer window will be crucial to keeping them on that trajectory or even raising it, in this season and subsequent ones.
With Tom Brady and Tom Wagner’s ultimate ambition remaining to guide The Blues back to the Premier League for the first time since 2011, signings who can not only contribute this campaign, but in 2026/27 and beyond will be crucial.
So with that in mind, we fired up the Football Manager 26 Beta and lo and behold, they got promoted. But before that, here’s who they signed in January to fire that push to the Premier League.
Aaron Ramsdale big name addition to Blues
Aaron Ramsdale - loan from Southampton - Ramsdale’s loan move to Newcastle looked like it could work out for all parties (except Nick Pope) with the former Arsenal goalkeeper appearing capable of ousting Pope from the first-choice starting side.
However, it’s not worked out like that at all and Ramsdale is yet to play a minute outside of the EFL Cup. So January could be the perfect time for a reset and if Southampton don’t want to keep Ramsdale on the south coast (which they may well, given they have the third-worst shot-stopping record in the league) then he would surely be an upgrade on Ryan Allsop and James Beadle.
Alimami Gory - £500,000 from Paris FC - On the verge of turning 30, Gory has made over a century of appearances for Paris FC and has spent all of his career in France, mostly in Ligue 2. So it’s surprising that now would be the moment to bring him to English football. He’s been a bit-part player for the Parisiens on their return to the top-flight but boasts an impressive strike rate of one goal every 162 minutes.
Damir Hrelja - £1.1m from Borac - Already a veteran of the BiH Premier League in Bosnia & Herzegovina, boasting almost a century of appearances in the division, Hrelja’s predominantly a right-winger and already has nine goal contributions in 11 games at one every 90 minutes. However, moving to the Championship would be a pretty major step up for the 24-year-old.
Adil Aouchiche - loan from Sunderland - A star at age-grade football, Aouchiche did his best Michah Richards impression and burst onto the scene as a 19-year-old, scoring two and assisting five goals for Saint-Etienne in his first full season of senior football bus has struggled to kick on since then. Since moving to Sunderland over two years ago he’s made eight goal contributions in the Championship so will this be third time lucky?
Light winter of departures for Birmingham City
Godfred Boakye - loan to Union Namur - With Blues making a promotion push, it’s obviously a pretty quiet transfer window for outgoings, and Boakye is the only departure. The 19-year-old is yet to play a senior minute for Birmingham City so temporarily heads back to his homeland and third-division Union Namur in search of game-time.