Birmingham ready late raid for £2m star who can be “world-class”

Birmingham City might well have crashed out of the EFL Cup on Wednesday night to League One opponents Port Vale, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that Chris Davies’ side is still unbeaten in the Championship.

Indeed, the Blues have collected two wins and a draw with the confidence of a second-tier regular, with a trip to recently relegated Leicester City tomorrow night not fazing the West Midlands side in the slightest.

The reigning third-tier champions won’t be done with purchases this summer just yet, either, even with this fast start out of the blocks, as a last-ditch Kyogo Furuhashi repeat looks to be in the offing.

Birmingham plot late move for £2m sensation

Adding in Lewis Koumas on loan from Liverpool is the latest venture Birmingham has made in the hectic transfer window, which has lifted the Blues’ total of summer incomings to a sturdy 12.

Koumas isn’t the only exciting winger addition that could be on the cards, however, as a surprise move now looks to be on the horizon for Davies to raid his former employers in Celtic.

As per an exclusive report from Football League World, despite signing off on a whole barrage of purchases this summer, Birmingham look to be in for South Korean sensation Yang Hyun-jun, having now allegedly made an approach for his services.

Having already had success in the Asian market with the additions of Tomoki Iwata and Seung Paik Ho, this could well prove to be another inspired pick-up, with the 23-year-old unlikely to cost the Blues too much of a pretty penny, having previously joined Brendan Rodgers’ Hoops for just £2m back in 2023.

While he has consistently struggled for gametime for the green and white half of Glasgow, he would be seen as a welcome addition to boost an already potent Blues attack, with the hope he can be as instantly impactful as the aforementioned Kyogo at St. Andrew’s, who also once called Parkhead home.

Why Yang can be Kyogo 2.0

Much like Birmingham in recent years, Celtic have regularly dipped into the Asian market amid the search for fresh talent – and have done so with a real degree of success.

Kyogo is surely the cream of the crop to have pulled on the famous Hoops strip from this part of the world, as seen in him finishing off his trophy-laden time in Glasgow with an astounding 86 strikes next to his name, having successfully made the jump from Vissel Kobe.

He has since made a similar level of leap to the hustle and bustle of Championship football look effortless too, with the “unbelievable” former hero in Scotland – as he was once dubbed by his ex-Celtic manager in Ange Postecoglou – gobbling up this gifted opportunity on just his third game for the club to get off the mark.

Yang will hope he can also make the same tricky transition look as seamless, with his own bright form at Parkhead seeing current Hoops boss Brendan Rodgers label him as a “fantastic” asset to have around the place.

When the former Leicester City boss has required an injection of life to his side late on, he has regularly relied on the 23-year-old as an impact substitute, with Yang amazingly chipping in with a hefty haul of 11 goals and assists when starting just 19 games across his last full two seasons in the Scottish Premiership.

Therefore, while he might not be as front and centre to Davies’ plans as the £10m buy of Kyogo, he could well prove to be an exciting late purchase all the same, particularly if he adds in even more quality to fire the Blues immediately up to the Premier League.

Gangwon president Kim Byung-ji even claimed that he “could easily become a world-class player like Son Heung-min”, and it will be intriguing to see how Yang settles into life in the Championship.

He has, of course, shown off spurts of his quality with Celtic, albeit from irregular opportunities.

The proof will soon be in the pudding as to whether the left-field winger will shine or, unfortunately, struggle, as both Yang and Kyogo aim to guide the Blues to a second promotion success on the trot.