Birmingham City to seal Carlos Vicente transfer deal - these 2 Blues players may not like it | OneFootball

Carlos Vicente is set to seal a high-profile switch to St. Andrew's

Birmingham City are set to seal another high-profile acquisition in the form of Deportivo Alaves winger, Carlos Vicente.

Chris Davies has conducted a major squad reshuffle across the past three weeks at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park, with the 26-year-old Spanish winger set to imminently sign a deal worth €8m (£6.9m), becoming the fifth signing of Blues' January window as the club attempts to push for promotion back to the Premier League for the first time since May 2011.

The deal has also reportedly been the trigger behind Lewis Koumas' eventual recall by top-flight champions, Liverpool, at the start of the week after Blues and the Reds had agreed to extend the break clause within their loan agreement, with Football League World exclusively revealing that the nine-time Welsh international was expected to return to Anfield at some point between New Year's Day and the upcoming transfer deadline of 7PM on Monday, February 2nd.

Vicente has been a key performer at the Mendizorrotza Stadium for some time, emphasised by the fact that after Birmingham had initially lodged an enquiry over the possibility of acquiring the Spaniard's services, Alaves continued to hold a 'not for sale' stance, and that deals only worth €20m (£17.3m) would be considered, before the cut-price deal was eventually agreed.

He has scored 10 times across all competitions so far this season for the Vitoria-Gasteiz-based side, with the last of those appearing to be a 'parting gift' in a crucial success over Real Betis on Sunday night, as he is now set to undergo his medical ahead of an expected move to the West Midlands after Blues were able to fend off competition from Dutch and European powerhouses, Ajax.

Whilst this will represent yet another exciting signing for Blues fans after the prior acquisitions of Kai Wagner, Jhon Solis, Ibrahim Osman and August Priske, not all within Davies' playing squad may welcome the aforementioned developments with the greatest deal of enthusiasm.

As such, Football League World have identified two players who may see their own predicaments in B9 impacted by the arrival of Vicente.

Patrick Roberts

The first name in Davies' ranks who may feel slightly 'under threat' as a result of Vicente's pending arrival is current loan ace, Patrick Roberts.

The 28-year-old has been one of Blues' strongest performers since joining on loan from Sunderland on Deadline Day back in September, having previously aided the Black Cats' well-documented rise from League One to the Premier League within a four-year period.

Roberts, who previously worked with Davies at Celtic, has provided plenty of spark and technical brilliance on the right flank for Birmingham so far this season, as showcased by a total of three goals and five assists in 27 appearances across all competitions thus far.

Yet, whilst it is hard to underestimate how crucial those contributions have been when it comes to earning vital points in the play-off race, it has been debated as to whether the experienced winger has the pace required in certain instances, which will certainly be injected by Vicente.

However, adopting a 'horses for courses' approach is likely to see the duo share an adequate amount of minutes between themselves, with it also being widely reported that Blues have looked to strike a deal with Sunderland over the permanent signing of Roberts, as his contract on Wearside expires on June 30th.

Scott Wright

However, it is fair to say that the imminent arrival of Vicente could be yet another nail in the coffin as far as Scott Wright's Birmingham career is concerned, with the Scottish winger on the unfortunate end of some rather tough circumstances.

The former Rangers man was one of many signings made in the summer of 2024 ahead of Blues' record-breaking League One campaign, and he certainly made a strong start with a last-gasp winner on debut against Wigan Athletic.

At the turn of 2025, Wright, again, was beginning to have an underrated impact on Davies' team, before suffering a second ACL injury of his career against Reading 11 months ago, which left him sidelined until the end of the calendar year.

Having signed a three-year contract at the time of his arrival, Wright is at the midway point of said spell, and recently marked a full return to fitness with a brief cameo in the 2-0 success over Sheffield Wednesday last week.

Yet, with Blues already parting ways with several other 'fringe' players across the month, such as Keshi Anderson and Lyndon Dykes, it would be no real surprise to see a potential short-term exit, at the very least, sanctioned for the Scot in the next week, which would be extremely beneficial in terms of allowing him to continue regaining match fitness and sharpness after a luckless period.