Birmingham City plot move to sign ‘explosive’ 8-goal forward | OneFootball

Blues are interested in swooping for Basel attacker Philip Otele - but they're not alone

Birmingham City are eyeing up a move for FC Basel winger Philip Otele in the upcoming January transfer window, according to reports.

Blues are hell-bent on challenging for promotion to the Premier League this season, but they may need to add some fresh bodies in the mid-season market to do so, with their form away from St. Andrew's in particular making the results of Chris Davies' side look inconsistent.

There's no shortage of goals being scored by the Midlands outfit, who've found the back of the net 29 times from their 20 games played, including 14 in their last four home clashes, but it appears that Davies wants to add more to his attacking unit, with players such as Kyogo Furuhashi yet to get going yet.

Birmingham City interested in FC Basel winger Philip Otele

And according to a report from GiveMeSport's Ben Jacobs, Birmingham could look to add to their ranks next month with a move for wing wizard Philip Otele, who is lighting up the Swiss Super League this season for FC Basel - but they want between €8 million and €10 million (£6.99 million-£8.73 million) for his services.

Labelled as an 'explosive' player upon his arrival at the club in January by sporting director Daniel Stucki, Otele has been starring for Basel in domestic action as well as in Europe since the start of the year.

In his initial loan spell with RotBlau from UAE outfit Al-Wahda, Otele scored nine times and provided a further four assists in 18 appearances, which helped to guide his new club over the line and to the Super League title - and it prompted a permanent switch to St. Jakob-Park.

The 26-year-old's fine form has continued in the European nation, adding a further four goals and three assists in domestic league action, and he's also found the back of the net twice in UEFA Europa League action against Freiburg and Genk.

Otele is no stranger to England either - he graduated from Teesside University with a degree in Sports Management and Marketing, whilst also playing for their football team, as well as local non-league side Wolviston, before moving to Lithuanian side Kauno Žalgiris in 2019 to kick off his professional career.

Birmingham City may struggle to find room for Philip Otele due to Demarai Gray's presence

As per GiveMeSport's report, Birmingham are not alone in their interest of Otele, with FA Cup winners Crystal Palace also in the mix for the pacey wide player.

There's a chance though that as he approaches the age of 27 in April, Otele may find it tricky to get into Palace's starting 11 due to the players they've currently got - but you could also argue the same at Birmingham.

Whilst he's capable of playing through the middle as a striker, Otele has almost exclusively played all of his recent football off the left flank, but with Demarai Gray being one of the first names on Chris Davies' current Blues team-sheet, it's hard to see him getting ahead of the Jamaica international.

Gray could of course move to the opposite flank, but that would be taking away his best asset of cutting inside and shooting on his right foot, and with Patrick Roberts being the creative presence off the right, Birmingham's wing options currently look solid enough, but they could upgrade in the likes of Lewis Koumas and Keshi Anderson if they're serious about promotion.