Birmingham City face Wolves battle in race to sign 'explosive' forward | OneFootball

Philip Otele remains on Blues' radar after previous transfer links

Birmingham City are reportedly still interested in pursuing a transfer move for FC Basel's Nigerian winger, Philipe Otele, but are facing fresh competition for his services.

Such developments have been outlined in a fresh update on X from Ben Jacobs of GiveMeSport on Wednesday morning, with Blues set to battle it out with the likes of the Premier League's bottom club and West Midlands rivals, Wolverhampton Wanderers, in this particular transfer race.

Birmingham have seen their transfer activity generate plenty of headlines under the ownership of Knighthead Capital Management, having previously parted with two eight-figure sums to lure Jay Stansfield back to St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park on a permanent basis from Fulham in August 2024, as well as in the deal which brought Japanese international forward, Kyogo Furuhashi, to the Second City from Stade Rennais last July.

It has been widely discussed that the current winter window has to be successful for Chris Davies if Blues are to mount a sustained bid for the Championship play-off places between now and May after an inconsistent first 26 league matches of their campaign after ending last season as record-breaking champions of League One.

Davies welcomed 14 new signings to St. Andrew's in the summer, and has already overseen one incoming and three departures since the window reopened for business on New Year's Day.

The Blues boss addressed his previous shortcomings at left-back by welcoming Kai Wagner of Philadelphia Union to his ranks, whilst all of Dion Sanderson, Emil Hansson and Eiran Cashin have all exited the club, with the former two leaving on permanent transfers whilst Cashin's loan stint from Brighton was cut short.

Davies is also expected to complete the signing of Girona FC's Colombian midfielder, Jhon Solis, on a loan move which could be turned permanent on an option-to-buy or potential mandatory basis due to the insertion of an appearance-based clause, whilst Football League World exclusively revealed that a deal for Mjallby AIF's seven-goal forward, Abdoulie Manneh, collapsed on Tuesday morning.

However, with Manneh's natural position of left-wing clearly an area of the squad in which Davies is looking to reinforce, with it expected that Lewis Koumas returns to Liverpool after a stop-start loan spell of his own, whilst summer signing and Blues academy graduate, Demarai Gray remains sidelined with a calf issue, the Midlands outfit are not giving up their pursuit of the aforementioned Otele.

Birmingham City still pursuing potential Philipe Otele move amid Wolverhampton Wanderers competition

It was the aforementioned Jacobs who brokered Blues' initial interest in the Nigerian forward last month, with it being claimed that the ambitious Championship side would face competition from last season's FA Cup winners, Crystal Palace, in an attempt to lure Otele to the English game for the first time in his career.

A report claimed that a fee of between €8m and €10m could be enough to complete a deal with Basel, with Otele reportedly keen on a move to England after previous interest from the likes of Fulham, Sevilla, OGC Nice and Bundesliga duo, VfB Stuttgart and Borussia Mönchengladbach over the course of the summer.

The 26-year-old has been a hit at St Jakob Park since initially arriving on loan from Al-Wahda in the winter transfer window of 2025, before agreeing to a permanent switch in the summer for a reported €3m.

In total, the former CFR Cluj man has scored 17 times and provided a further seven assists in just 51 appearances for Basel, with such a record alerting clubs from across Europe to his signature.

It has now been claimed by Jacobs that the man who featured against Blues' cross-city rivals, Aston Villa, in a 2-1 defeat last month, is still being looked at by the St. Andrew's club, although they are now facing competition from Wolves, who have hit a recent run of form under Rob Edwards after previously looking doomed.

Jacobs also states that Otele is expected to leave Basel this transfer window, and that his current employers have dropped their minimal asking price to around €7m, with Lazio, Celtic and AFC Bournemouth also lodging inquiries.

A player of Otele's attributes is what many Birmingham supporters will feel they need, as well as him having more experience than the aforementioned Manneh, who is also known for his pace, power and directness.

Furthermore, if a deal was to advance, those in B9 would also love a previous verdict on this season's eight-goal man from Basel's sporting director, Daniel Stucki.

"Philip Otele is a very explosive player who brings another interesting element to our attacking play with his physicality. Thanks to his age, he has already gained a fair amount of experience and is a great alternative for us on the wing or as a striker," Stucki said 12 months ago.