Birmingham City may be dodging a real bullet as Middlesbrough hijack Blues transfer | OneFootball

Birmingham had trying to sign Jeremy Sarmiento, but it now looks like they'll be gazumped by Middlesbrough. This may not be the worst thing for them.

Birmingham City had been in the market for the Brighton winger Jeremy Sarmiento, but it now seems likely that they'll be gazumped by Middlesbrough. This, however, might not be the worst thing that could happen to them in this transfer window.

It says something for the contradictory nature of Birmingham City's season that, while they've only won one of their last nine games in the Championship, that win came against the League leaders Coventry City.

Birmingham find themselves in a position which is frustrating for supporters, simultaneously treading water in the middle of the Championship table while encircled by a lot of talk about their ambitious projects and aspirations for the future.

There has been a lot of talk about the possibility of a second successive promotion, and considering the scale of the new stadium they're planning, getting to the Premier League by 2030 is the minimum expectation at St Andrew's now.

But winning two successive promotions is extremely difficult, and it hasn't seemed particularly likely that it would be happening this season.

Still, though, that ambition burns, and despite their position in the bottom half of the Championship, they do remain just five points from a play-off place. As such, this is a critical transfer window for the club, and they need to get their business right.

Birmingham City had been "leading the chase" to land Jeremy Sarmiento - but they are no longer

One name with whom Birmingham City have been closely linked in January has been the Brighton & Hove Albion winger Jeremy Sarmiento.

The player had been on loan in Italy this season, playing alongside Jamie Vardy at Cremonese, but he's returned to Sussex early and had been connected with a potential £3 million move to St. Andrew's, with the Brighton Argus reporting as recently as the 21st January that the Blues were "leading the chase" to sign him.

But Birmingham have now been gazumped by Championship rivals Middlesbrough in their pursuit of the 24 times capped Ecuadorian international. Sky Sports Italia's Luca Bendoni has posted to the social media platform X that Sarmiento is now on his way to The Riverside Stadium after talks with Birmingham "stalled."

According to Bendoni, Sarmiento has given the "green light" to moving to Teesside instead, with the transfer fee set at £3.4 million for the two-time Championship promotion winner.

Jeremy Sarmiento may not have been a player that Birmingham need right now

There is little doubting Jeremy Sarmiento's talent. Signed by Brighton & Hove Albion from Benfica in 2021, he's an Ecuadorian international who's made 15 appearances for them in the Premier League.

But something hasn't quite clicked. He's had three spells out on loan since signing for Albion in the Championship, with West Bromwich Albion, Ipswich Town and Burnley, and despite winning promotion twice with the latter two clubs, his contributions in 2024/25 for the Clarets was quite minimal when it was all said and done.

He made just seven appearances for Cremonese in 2025-26, with his last coming on November 7. And while he made 35 appearances for the Clarets in their promotion-winning team last season, he wasn't especially impactful, despite Burnley's 100-point return to the Premier League.

Furthermore, Sarmiento is a winger, and Birmingham City are pretty well-stocked in the sort of position that might get the best out of him, including Demarai Gray, Patrick Roberts and another Brighton winger in the form of Ibrahim Osman - who's just signed on loan for the Blues until the end of the season - all able to perform the role that they may have wanted from him.

As such, it's difficult to avoid the conclusion that Birmingham may have dodged a bullet by Middlesbrough hijacking their move for Sarmiento.

The Blues' owners may be fabulously wealthy, but this doesn't mean that spending a seven-figure sum on a player that they don't really need would necessarily be a good idea.

Birmingham's tepid first half of the 2025-26 season has indicated that there is further work required to be carried out on their first-team squad. That money could now be spent elsewhere, should they choose to.