Birmingham City close in on transfer move for ex-Nottingham Forest defender | OneFootball

Jonathan Panzo is nearing a move to St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park

Birmingham City are reportedly closing in on a transfer agreement for the services of Rio Ave centre-back, Jonathan Panzo.

That is according to Portuguese outlet, Cabine Desportiva via X, with the publication dropping an update on the potential deal in the early hours of Deadline Day.

Blues have conducted a major squad reshuffle throughout the winter transfer window, as Chris Davies hopes to progress his side into the Championship play-off places at the first time of asking as a result of the public ambitions of ownership group, Knighthead Capital Management.

As many as 10 players have exited St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park so far in the window, after Football League World exclusively revealed that several of those would be free to leave the club in order to facilitate a handful of much-needed and eye-catching acquisitions.

So far, Davies has welcomed the services of Kai Wagner, Jhon Solis, Ibrahim Osman, August Priske and Carlos Vicente, with three of those coming through permanent deals, whilst Solis and Osman have joined initially on a short-term basis from Girona FC and Brighton and Hove Albion respectively.

Despite having a well-stacked squad in terms of depth and quality in multiple areas, it has also been well-documented that Davies has struggled when it comes to availability right across his defensive department so far this season.

Tomoki Iwata has often slotted in as a versatile right-back away from his natural midfield position due to injuries and international call-ups surrounding Ethan Laird and Bright Osayi-Samuel, whilst the Blues boss hinted at another potential addition at left-back due to concerns over Alex Cochrane and Lee Buchanan, who both remain sidelined.

However, one growing concern throughout January has been an alarming lack of senior options at the heart of defence due to a recent injury sustained by summer recruit, Jack Robinson.

Yet, whilst surprise exit talk has surrounded German centre-back, Phil Neumann, it appears as though Davies will be adding a fourth figure to his centre-back department in the form of Panzo, who already boasts a wealth of experience at Championship level.

Birmingham City close in on Rio Ave transfer agreement for Jonathan Panzo

Cabine Desportiva's aforementioned update states that Birmingham are nearing a deal for the 25-year-old defender in the final hours of the window.

This comes after the West Midlands outfit were, like a handful of other Championship rivals, beaten to the signature of experienced Newcastle United defender, Jamaal Lascelles, who is currently undergoing a medical ahead of a proposed switch to Leicester City.

As previously mentioned, Davies has been light on numbers at centre-back throughout recent weeks despite his side's current unbeaten streak of six games in all competitions, with Robinson currently sidelined whilst Eiran Cashin's previous loan stint was cut short, with the Irish defender subsequently joining Blackburn Rovers for the remainder of the campaign.

The publication's update also reveals that Panzo has already travelled to England in order to finalise a move, having featured 35 times for Rio Ave since initially joining on loan from Nottingham Forest in July 2024.

As previously mentioned, Panzo has strong recent experience of the Championship, which included a play-off success with Forest back in May 2022 under Steve Cooper, as well as featuring for Coventry City and Cardiff City.

If a deal is able to be completed in the coming hours, it will cap off a largely satisfactory window for Blues, who have addressed several 'problem areas', whilst also removing a large chunk of wages from their payroll due to the sheer number of exits which have been sanctioned.