Birmingham City must send scouts to watch Brighton star and Phil Neumann, here's why | OneFootball

FLW identifies two players who should be on Chris Davies' radar ahead of January

Birmingham City's strength in-depth has been a key factor as to why the club are fancied by so many to achieve a first-time promotion out of League One.

Despite a high amount of player turnover in the summer, Chris Davies and the Blues' recruitment team immediately signalled their intent with a record-breaking spending spree for the third tier and the club itself.

And, it would be fair to say that a number of those 18 acquisitions have made strong impressions on supporters at St Andrew's @ Knighthead, such as Alex Cochrane, Tomoki Iwata, Willum Willumsson and the well-documented permanent signing of Jay Stansfield.

Davies has already hinted that incomings in the January transfer window depends on how many within his squad look to seek a departure.

"I think that will naturally reshuffle as we approach January and that’s healthy and good for both parties," he told Birmingham Live.

With that being said, Football League World have pinpointed two names who the club should have on their scouting radar, with the January transfer window edging ever-closer.

Cameron Peupion

The first of those two names comes in the form of Brighton and Hove Albion attacking midfielder, Cameron Peupion.

It's been no secret that at times, Blues have lacked the required creativity to unlock stubborn defences who look to claim a major scalp in the division, which is where the 22-year-old Australian could come in handy.

Despite the aforementioned Willumsson stepping up to the mark with eight goal contributions in his first 15 appearances for the club, those underneath him in the pecking order have rarely lived up to expectations thus far.

Regardless of sustaining an ankle injury earlier in the season, Fulham loanee Luke Harris has struggled to show his qualities in royal blue after a strong temporary stint with Exeter City last season.

Therefore, if form doesn't improve for the 19-year-old, Davies could allocate his loan spot to Peupion, who has registered 11 goal contributions across the PL2, Premier League International Cup and EFL Trophy so far this campaign, and would look to build on a total of six games out on loan for Cheltenham Town last term.

"I think from my numbers this season I've put a good case forward. I'm just focusing on each game and trying to maximize any time I'm on the pitch, trying to score goals, get assists, create for the team and show why someone out there should take me," the Aussie recently told Brighton's official website.

Phil Neumann

The Blues rearguard is definitely one area of the squad which could face a re-shuffle in January, with the potential acquisition of Hannover 96's Phil Neumann at the forefront of such developments.

Furthermore, it has recently been claimed that a loan exit for former captain Dion Sanderson could be sanctioned, even if a Championship side looks to acquire the former Wolves man on a temporary basis.

This then allows greater room for the ambitious club to ramp up their pursuit of Neumann, who was reportedly the subject of a €4m bid, according to Florian Plettenberg, before a move failed to materialise, with Football Insider stating that Birmingham are preparing a fresh bid in January.

Although the 2.Bundesliga side are reluctant to lose the 27-year-old who has recorded six clean sheets for the side currently in fourth place, being able to acquire Neumann's services alongside the duo of Krystian Bielik and Christoph Klarer would only raise expectation levels in B9.

Given Sanderson's struggles for form across 2024 as a whole, it is clear that Blues need to target a variety of centre-backs, but the German should continue to be at the head of their transfer wishlist.