'Contact made' - Birmingham City make first move to sign clinical £6m nine-goal attacker
The latest transfer news as Birmingham City target a move for a La Liga forward.
Birmingham City have reportedly stepped up their interest in Alaves winger Carlos Vicente ahead of the January transfer deadline.
Blues are eager to improve their wide options and have moved onto Vicente after a deal to sign Mjallby attacker Abdoulie Manneh fell through at the final hurdle.
The pressure remains on manager Chris Davies to put things right after a tricky first half or so of the season, so completing some exciting transfer business could relieve some of that.
Birmingham in talks to sign La Liga gem
It appears Birmingham, who held interest in Vicente over the summer, have returned to the Spaniard and are working on a potential deal. Marca journalist Matteo Moretto, a close ally of Fabrizio Romano, claims Blues have ‘already made contact with Alaves’ over signing Vicente.
It awaits to be seen if Alaves would be willing to let Vicente leave this month and how much they would ask for, though Transfermarkt’s valuation of €7 million (£6m) offers a slight hint. It’s also unclear whether the player would be keen on the move to St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park.
Regardless of those aspects, Birmingham are seemingly working behind the scenes to try and get a deal done. Davies promised Blues would sign a new winger after Keshi Anderson departed, so business will be done, rest assured.
How would Vicente fit in at Birmingham?
Heading into his prime years at 26, Vicente has proven himself as a reliable goal scorer at the top level in Spain. This season alone, the winger has scored nine goals and contributed three assists in 23 appearances.
It was a similar story last term - albeit at a slightly less clinical rate - as Vicente scored five and assisted five in 38 La Liga matches. The 26-year-old was a slightly late bloomer as he first properly broke onto the scene in the Spanish third tier in 2021/22, while playing for CD Calahorra aged 22.
If Vicente were to join Blues, he’d likely start games almost right away due to the injury picked up by Demarai Gray. Birmingham’s number 10 is expected to be out until February at the earliest, so there could be a chance for Vicente to make an immediate impact.