True cost of Birmingham City transfer revealed after €4.15m fee rubbished

Birmingham City have seemingly paid less than what was originally reported for Austrian centre-back Christoph Klarer.

According to TransferMarkt, Blues paid €4.15m to buy the defender, which translates to about £3.4m. German newspaper The Rheinische Post have provided clarity on the transfer, with those at Fortuna Dusseldorf revealing they received 10% of the fee, which comes to about €300,000.

With Duddledorf claiming they received €300,000, that means Klarer joined Birmingham from SV Darmstadt 98 for €3m, which comes to about £2.5m. That is a difference of £900,000, which is a considerable difference at League One level.

Earlier this month, BirminghamLive reported that Birmingham's transfer business wasn't as expensive as first reported. Christoph Klarer along with Willum Willumsson reportedly joined for a combined £7m, but their sources claim that those figures were wrong, and they arrived for significantly less than reported.

The 24-year-old has so far played in eight games since arriving at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park. He was an unused substitute against Exeter City on the opening day but since then he has started every game since, and was given the captain's armband in the 2-0 win against Rotherham United at the weekend.

He had experience of playing in England before, having been part of Southampton’s academy for four years. Klarer when he arrived signed a three-year contract which runs until the summer of 2027, and in his unveiling he admitted he was sold on the project of the club.