Birmingham City's stunning £78m new-look starting lineup after seven new players join in transfer spree

Birmingham City have maintained their momentum in the transfer market with some stonking business to kick off the 2025 summer window, as seven first-team acquisitions have been finalised ahead of the beginning of pre-season.

Chairman Tom Wagner very much proved his financial commitment to Birmingham last summer with unprecedented spending on League One, while his mega plans for a new Sports Quarter in the Second City are moving forward. The backing is continuing on the transfer front, too, with big-money deals going through once again.

Central defender Phil Neumann was the first to join as Blues agreed a pre-contract agreement with the Hannover 96 man several months ago. Promising young goalkeeper James Beadle was next as he joined on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion on July 1, before Birmingham really let the floodgates open with five more deals in rapid succession.

Winger Demarai Gray has completed a romantic comeback, signing from Al-Ettifaq on a free transfer, versatile defender Bright Osayi-Samuel has joined at the end of his Fenerbahce contract and Tommy Doyle has signed on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Then there are two new additions increasing the Japanese contingent, with Kanya Fujimoto joining for free from Gil Vicente and former Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi arriving from Rennes in a big-money deal. Although the Kyogo fee hasn’t been disclosed, it’s likely to be close to the £10 million Rennes paid to Celtic in January of this year.

Blues fans are understandably getting very excited following the flurry of transfer activity, with discussions underway over how the best starting lineup could now look with all the new additions. With that in mind, here’s a run-through of how Birmingham’s XI could shape up with all seven included.