How much money Birmingham City may have to pay Kai Wagner in wages | OneFootball

Wagner is set to imminently bolster Blues' left-back options

Birmingham City have immediately signalled their intentions of bolstering Chris Davies' squad in the early days of the winter transfer window, with a deal for Philadelphia Union left-back, Kai Wagner, edging ever closer.

It has been apparent for many weeks that extra reinforcements have been needed in specific areas of Davies' squad at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park, with a multitude of factors, including player availability, not helping the Championship side's current cause.

Indeed, Blues slumped further down the standings on New Year's Day after yet another heavy defeat away from the West Midlands, as a hat-trick from Thomas Ince saw Watford emerge 3-0 victors at Vicarage Road, only intensifying the pressure which is reportedly on the Blues boss' shoulders after a winless run of seven games through most of December and now the start of 2026.

However, hours before yet another below-par performance on their travels, which made it six defeats in their last seven away outings, it was widely reported that Blues were closing in on the capture of the German defender.

An initial claim from US-based journalist, José Roberto Nuñez, on New Year's Eve was then backed up by Birmingham Live and Sky Deutschland reporter, Florian Plettenberg, with the latter claiming the deal would be worth €2.3m (£2m).

Despite the aforementioned heavy defeat in Hertfordshire, one small plus point from Davies' perspective is that the deal to acquire the 28-year-old is nearing completion, and could be done ahead of Sunday's all-Midlands encounter against league leaders, Coventry City.

"There’s a very slim possibility of that," he said.

"I’m not sure on the actual paperwork and everything else like that, and obviously their season finished some time ago so he hasn’t been playing, but officially that might be possible."

With this capture representing another coup for Blues under the ownership of the defender's namesake, Tom Wagner, Football League World have looked into how much money the Geislingen an der Steige native could earn at St. Andrew's.

How much money Kai Wagner earned per week at Philadelphia Union amid £2m Birmingham City transfer agreement

It was exclusively reported by FLW last month that Blues were looking to fill a void at left-back, which has since become even more desperate due to Alex Cochrane's recent three-game hiatus before the Watford defeat, whilst it is expected that Lee Buchanan will depart on loan in order to build up his match fitness and sharpness after being sidelined for over 12 months.

However, given Wagner's reputation in Major League Soccer and the stats which have backed it up, it is no real surprise that a plethora of Bluenoses were delighted when initial links surfaced in the final hours of 2025.

After moving across the Atlantic in February 2019 from Würzburger Kickers, Wagner has amassed 253 appearances for Union, scoring 10 times and posting an extremely remarkable total of 54 assists from his defensive position, with 22 of those coming in the past two seasons.

12 months ago, Wagner was heavily linked with Coventry and eventual Championship promotion-winners, Burnley, but is now finally set to secure a maiden move to English football.

Returning back to the potential financial elements of said deal, whilst Davies admits he isn't fully clued-up on the paperwork required which would complete a deal ahead of the upcoming fixture against the Sky Blues, according to Capology - a site which ESTIMATES player earnings and specific contract details - Wagner was earning a base wage of $17,500 per week at Subaru Park.

Translating such a figure means that the German was taking home a pay packet of £13,010 per week - a tally which made him the fourth-highest earner at the club behind Mikael Uhre, Jakob Glesnes and Andre Blake.

Despite the aforementioned figure making him a top earner with the Pennsylvania-based club, it would make Wagner a rather modest earner at St. Andrew's, largely due to the high-profile names already within Davies' squad.

There are currently 12 permanent players and one loanee who earn above said figure, with Kyogo Furuhashi topping Blues' payroll charts with an ESTIMATED wage of £35,000 per week despite his well-documented struggles in front of goal.

In comparison to his main left-back competitor in Cochrane, Wagner would be earning £8,100 more than the former Hearts defender if the same wages were offered by Blues in comparison to the MLS outfit.

Cochrane, of course, has been extremely consistent for Blues since his arrival in the summer of 2024. However, the acquisition of Wagner will be a major boost, offering Davies plenty of defensive nous and a further creative threat.