'Premier League-made' Birmingham City star handed £20m valuation after stunning rise | OneFootball

Christoph Klarer has impressed many since moving to St. Andrew's two years ago

Birmingham City's upward trajectory in the past two seasons has been well-documented, with some players at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park emerging with plenty of credit as a result.

After being relegated to League One in May 2024, Chris Davies was heavily backed by Knighthead to oversee the first major tick in the box when it came to the American ownership group's rebuild.

Despite receiving a transfer kitty incomparable to all other 23 clubs in the third tier at the time, the 41-year-old passed it with flying colours, subsequently breaking a whole manner of records on and off the pitch as Blues returned to the Championship at the first time of asking.

Last season saw the Second City side finish 10th, which was met with a mixture of opinions due to a continuation of strong backing in the transfer market towards Davies, which, as a result, meant that not too many tweaks were made this summer when it came to the volume of incomings.

As a result of some of the fees which have been spent by Birmingham throughout Tom Wagner's ownership, it has become fairly clear as to which transfer dealings have become the most and least successful over time.

Birmingham City told Christoph Klarer is 'Premier League' quality as fresh valuation claim made

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During the aforementioned summer window of 2024, it was reported that Birmingham had shelled out between £20m and £25m on a barrage of new signings, with one of those being Austrian centre-back, Christoph Klarer.

The one-time Southampton man had previously boasted Bundesliga experience with SV Darmstadt, but moved to the then-League One side for a reported £3.5m.

Such a figure has since been seen as a bargain by many, with the 6"3 figure and current Blues captain a force in both boxes, whilst also being extremely composed on the ball more often than not.

Football League World's Birmingham City fan pundit, Jason Moore, previously claimed the 26-year-old was worth approximately £20m, and that stance has clearly remained unchanged.

"£20m for Christoph Klarer," he said. "Anyone who wants his services, £20m.

"That's the going rate for most good Championship players now, so (I think he's worth) £20m.

"I could drop it to £15m on the basis that Hayden Hackney went for £17m (initial fee), but he had one year left on his contract," Moore added.

"I think he's absolutely quality, and he's probably Premier League-made already. 100%," our fan pundit claimed.

"Lower-half Premier League, he probably walks into a lot of those teams.

"There's a reason why he's been our Player of the Year for the past two seasons, and at this rate, arguably could get it again this season.

"He's quality, and you just know what you're going to get from him as a centre-back."

Christoph Klarer hasn't been impacted by Birmingham City's defensive turnover

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Klarer going back-to-back in terms of winning the main award at Birmingham's end-of-season awards is a testament to his performance levels and leadership.

It is also all the more impressive when considering the Austrian hasn't seen his consistency levels impacted by recently high turnover elsewhere in Davies' defensive department.

After signing from Darmstadt, Klarer initially partnered Krystian Bielik, before becoming an on-pitch captain and then forming a strong defensive duo with Ben Davies, before going on to do the same with Phil Neumann and, at times, Jack Robinson, who has since been released.

Unsurprisingly, his influence hasn't lessened and he has played every single minute of Blues' season in all competitions up to the current international break.

Christoph Klarer will hope Birmingham City performances lead to national recognition

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Having earned plenty of plaudits from Birmingham supporters and Championship onlookers for his catalogue of impressive performances, Klarer will be hoping that leads to more success on a collective and individual scale in the coming years.

Last year, he was rewarded with a new contract until 2029, with Blues hoping to have potentially returned to the Premier League by such a point, but he is yet to receive a call-up to the Austrian senior team.

"Obviously we’ve got players in my position playing for world class clubs and playing in the Bundesliga, or playing abroad, even in the Champions League, so it was always going to be tough for me," Klarer said of those chances in 2025, but having gone from strength-to-strength since then, it may not be that long until his exploits are acknowledged by Ralf Rangnick.