Birmingham City 'interested' in shock swoop for 'super' midfielder Jurgen Klopp loves

Birmingham City are reportedly interested in signing former England international and Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Blues have already made nine signings this summer but are keen to make more as they target an immediate promotion to the Premier League. Apart from big-money acquisition Kyogo Furuhashi, Birmingham haven’t spent a huge amount on any of their new additions and many have been for free.

Technical director Craig Gardner could carry on down the free agents route by signing Oxlade-Chamberlain, who is reportedly set to leave Besiktas for nothing despite still having 10 months left on his contract. The 32-year-old, who played 35 times for England during his prime, has one Champions League, one Premier League and four FA Cups to his name.

Birmingham in picture to sign Oxlade-Chamberlain

Blues could offer Oxlade-Chamberlain a return to England, as Sky Sports reports Chris Davies’ side are ‘interested’ in bringing the midfielder to St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park. Besiktas, who didn’t spend a penny to sign Oxlade-Chamberlain back in 2023, are willing to let him leave for free.

Meanwhile, the Mirror reports Birmingham’s interest has already progressed with an ‘ambitious move’ in motion. It awaits to be seen whether Oxlade-Chamberlain would be willing to make the transfer but it appears Blues are trying to make it happen regardless.

How would Oxlade-Chamberlain fit in at Birmingham?

If Oxlade-Chamberlain were to complete a move to St Andrew’s, he could expect to be competing with the likes of Paik Seung-ho and Doyle for the second spot in the double pivot alongside the immovable Tomoki Iwata. Also capable of playing on either flank or as an advanced number 10, Oxlade-Chamberlain could be fielded in an array of other roles if Davies prefers to keep Iwata and Paik as the deeper-lying pairing.

In reality, Blues will be rotating heavily throughout the season as Davies has so many options at his disposal across the pitch, even as far as between the sticks. League One Golden Glove winner Ryan Allsop is competing with Brighton & Hove Albion loanee for the number one spot. There’s been similar competition at right-back between Ethan Laird and new addition Bright Osayi-Samuel, too.

Even record signing Jay Stansfield may have to sit out the odd match as Davies tries to find a way of incorporating Japanese attacking duo Kyogo Furuhashi and Kanya Fujimoto while not disrupting the balance of the team. It may seem cut-throat, but fierce rotation is a sign that Birmingham will be incredibly competitive as the campaign goes on.

Oxlade-Chamberlain had Klopp seal of approval

Former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was public with his admiration for Oxlade-Chamberlain, even if the midfielder wasn’t always first choice in midfield. The pair developed a great relationship with one another as Oxlade-Chamberlain scored 18 goals and provided 14 assists in 146 appearances for Liverpool, all of which were overseen by Klopp.

“Ox is a super guy, an absolutely super guy,” Klopp told Liverpoolfc.com. “He was everything: he came here, had played from time to time at wing-back at Arsenal, winger for sure, and he became a proper number eight here in the way we wanted to play – super-energetic, technically outstanding.

“I love him. Once I said if I had to choose a player to go on holiday with probably my first choice would be Ox. He is a good talker and I’m pretty sure after his career – which I hope will continue for a long, long time – he will show up anywhere on television. If not, television made a big mistake!”