Birmingham City told to avoid making 'very silly' Phil Neumann transfer decision | OneFootball

Birmingham City fan pundit Jason believes the club must keep Phil Neumann at the club amid interest from Wolfsburg and Verona.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Birmingham City have been told they must not let Phil Neumann leave before the transfer deadline, with Verona and Wolfsburg tracking the centre-back.

There was a lot of excitement at St. Andrew’s when Neumann finally linked up with Blues in the summer after they signed him on a free transfer following his deal expiring at Hannover.

After starting the campaign alongside Christoph Klarer, the 28-year-old lost his place in the XI before returning to Chris Davies’ side in the past few months.

Phil Neumann attracting top-flight interest as Birmingham City exit suggested

Even though he continues to play an important role, it has been suggested that Neumann could be on the move, with reports claiming German outfit Wolfsburg are keen on the defender, whilst Verona want to bring him to Serie A.

Yet, when quizzed by FLW about the prospect of Neumann leaving, Birmingham fan pundit Jason was confident the club wouldn’t sanction a sale, as he insists the lack of depth in central defence means an exit shouldn’t be considered.

“I just don’t see it. Unless he is massively, massively out of favour with Chris Davies, and he has told him he will be the fourth choice centre-back, I just don’t see it.

“He has only just moved here, we chased him for ages, and we’ve only got two fit centre-backs. Jack Robinson is out for a while, and we still haven’t replaced Eiran Cashin.

“I can understand why clubs want him but if Blues were to let him go it would be a very, very silly decision to leave ourselves that short, unless we’re going to get stupid money, but even then, you leave yourselves stressed in trying to replace him with a couple of days left in the window. So, no, I don’t see this one happening.”

Birmingham City must keep Phil Neumann after ambitious January window

It has been quite surprising to see reports linking Neumann with an exit, because, as outlined above, he is an important figure for Davies right now.

We know that the ambitious Blues owners are targeting promotion this season, and, if there were any doubts about that, this January window has reinforced just how much they are willing to invest to achieve their objective.

Bringing in Kai Wagner, Jhon Solis, Carlos Vicente and August Priske looks fantastic on paper, and the latter two in particular look like real statement signings.

Therefore, it would make no sense for Birmingham to weaken themselves at the back by allowing Neumann to leave.

Of course, a ridiculous offer would have to be considered, but it’s hard to imagine Wolfsburg or Verona putting up the sort of money that would make Blues cash in, given how much is on the line if they win promotion to the Premier League.

Even if Birmingham do add another centre-back to their squad before the deadline, Neumann will still be required, as Cashin’s exit has left them short on options.

Ultimately, you would expect any clubs tracking Neumann to have been told a deal is not possible this month, and it’s something that may be revisited in the summer if the German is looking to move on.

Right now, though, his only focus will be on helping Blues as they try to close the five-point gap to the play-off places.