How £6.9m Birmingham City transfer could affect Blues squad - 2 players may not be happy | OneFootball

FLW has looked at how Jhon Solis' arrival could impact two of Chris Davies' current players

It has been widely reported that Birmingham City are closing in on a second acquisition of the winter transfer window, with Girona FC's Colombian midfielder, Jhon Solis, set to move to St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park.

Despite being just 21 years of age, Solis has already earned a strong reputation through his performances with the La Liga side, as well as there being previous Premier League interest in his services during the final weeks and months of his spell with Atlético National in his native South America.

Birmingham are currently 14th in the Championship and harbour strong ambitions of making a run for the play-offs in their first season back in the second tier after romping to the League One title last term under Chris Davies.

The former Tottenham Hotspur assistant has been heavily backed across his three previous transfer windows in charge by American owner, Tom Wagner, with the West Midlands outfit able to recruit several high-profile and experienced players as a result.

Despite a raft of signings being made on a permanent or temporary basis across the summer, the current campaign has been one of inconsistency so far for Blues, although they are just seven points behind the top six with 20 games remaining.

After it was claimed that Davies was eyeing up midfield reinforcements in the lead-up to the window, it has since been claimed that Solis' move to St. Andrew's will be on an initial loan basis that includes a €500,000 (£430,000) fee that could be turned permanent, either as an option-to-buy or a mandatory €8m (£6.9m) deal should he feature 11 times before the season's end.

With that being said, a player of such current ability and potential would surely command an immediate, if not extremely quick, place in the starting lineup, and FLW have looked at two men within Davies' squad who may be somewhat frustrated by such developments on a personal level.

Tomoki Iwata

It has been an intriguing 18-month period with Blues for Japanese midfielder, Tomoki Iwata, who joined from Celtic on Deadline Day in August 2024.

Throughout the club's solitary season in League One, it was rather clear that the former Hoops man was a cut above many divisional counterparts in his role alongside Paik Seung-ho at the base of Davies' midfield, whilst also having the eye for a spectacular strike.

However, the 28-year-old has, like many of his colleagues, endured a mixed first half of the current season, which has also been down to the fact he has been utilised at right-back on several occasions due to the unavailability of Ethan Laird and Bright Osayi-Samuel for varying reasons.

Whilst Iwata has performed admirably in an unnatural role of sorts, Laird is expected to return from a hamstring issue in February, whilst Osayi-Samuel is nearing the end of his AFCON campaign with Nigeria, meaning Davies will not be short of options in this department for much longer.

As such, with Paik forming a strong partnership with the technically-gifted Tommy Doyle, followed by the pending arrival of Solis, the four-time international may have his work cut out for the time being when it comes to forcing his way back into Davies' thinking in a starting midfield role.

Willum Willumsson

Despite being more of an attacking-minded midfielder, Solis' arrival could impact the fortunes of Icelandic international, Willum Willumsson, who has found it particularly tough going at Blues for the past 12 months despite making an initially strong impression in the weeks which followed his switch from Eredivisie outfit, Go Ahead Eagles.

The £3.5m signing did manage to accumulate a total of six goals and as many assists in 41 League One appearances, but only two of those came during the second half of the campaign.

It has been a frustrating current term for the 27-year-old too, having started in two of the club's opening four Championship encounters, before suffering a three-month absence for unspecified reasons.

Willumsson has returned to Davies' first-team fold for the meantime, though, with the first of five recent appearances coming through a start in the 3-0 defeat to Sheffield United on December 20th, before being in and out of the starting lineup throughout the remainder of the Christmas and New Year period.

But, with it being reported that Birmingham are looking for further depth and quality in midfield, Football League World understand that a permanent exit could be on the cards for the 18-time international, with potentially eight departures being sanctioned between now and the transfer deadline.