Big Celtic, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain transfer twist emerges - it may interest Birmingham City | OneFootball

The former Arsenal and Liverpool ace was linked with a potential move to St. Andrew's earlier in the season

Former Arsenal, Liverpool and England international midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is set to finally secure his next career move, and it is one which may interest supporters of Championship side, Birmingham City.

As per a fresh update from transfer guru, Fabrizio Romano on Friday morning, the experienced midfielder is braced to join Scottish Premiership champions, Celtic, after finalising contractual terms, just a handful of months after he was heavily linked with a potential move to St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park as a free agent.

Blues and Celtic are two clubs who have a handful of links at present, largely down to the current makeup of the squad in the West Midlands which has been assembled by Brendan Rodgers' former assistant coach at Parkhead, Chris Davies.

It has been well-documented that the Second City club are hoping to return to the Premier League for the first time since May 2011 as soon as possible, with ownership group, Knighthead Capital Management, backing Davies thoroughly in the four transfer windows which he has overseen at St. Andrew's since his appointment in June 2024.

After breaking a plethora of transfer and performance-related records during their solitary season in League One last term, Oxlade-Chamberlain was one of several high-profile names linked with a potential move to Birmingham as they looked to showcase their ambition in the market once more.

However, a move for the one-time Premier League and UEFA Champions League winner would not materialise, and he is now set to link up with the Hoops under the management of former Aston Villa boss, Martin O'Neill.

Big Celtic, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain transfer update emerges after previous Birmingham City links

Oxlade-Chamberlain had been linked with a handful of potential Championship moves during his most recent career stint with Turkish Süper Lig side, Besiktas, which included his academy club, Southampton, following the South Coast side's relegation from the Premier League.

However, after making 50 appearances for the Black Eagles, the 32-year-old agreed a £1.5m payoff for the early termination of his contract, which only intensified speculation over a move to Birmingham during the final weeks of the summer transfer window and beyond, due to his status as a free agent.

The 35-time England international has since trained with Arsenal to regain fitness, and is now set to join Celtic on a six-month deal until the end of the season, with the option to potentially further extend his stay in Glasgow over time - as reported by Romano.

Such developments came after Anthony Joseph of Sky Sports revealed on Thursday that he had said his goodbyes to the Arsenal squad after training with his former club in recent weeks and months.

However, it has also been reported that whilst such an agreement is in place, Oxlade-Chamberlain will not be able to partake in the Bhoys' upcoming UEFA Europa League two-legged play-off against VfB Stuttgart, having missed the deadline by which O'Neill's 25-man squad needed to be submitted.

Birmingham City will not feel major transfer regret over Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

With Blues' links to Oxlade-Chamberlain surfacing some time ago, the Championship side are unlikely to feel any sense of transfer regret.

Davies already had a plethora of midfield options at his disposal at that time in the form of Tomoki Iwata, Paik Seung-ho, Tommy Doyle and Marc Leonard, and has since seen the latter depart to Hearts on loan whilst recruiting powerful Colombian midfielder, Jhon Solis, on a temporary basis from Girona FC.

As such, the Blues squad is certainly in a better position than it was at the start of the winter window, and they will be hoping it is enough to secure a play-off place come May.