Birmingham Close In On £7m Winger Signing

Birmingham City are closing in on the signing of forward Carlos Vicente from Alaves.

The Blues have already signed four players in the January transfer window, completing deals for Ibrahim Osman, Jhon Solis, Kai Wagner and August Priske.

Vicente will be the most expensive of the lot though, with the Championship club understood to be splashing out €8million (£7million) for the frontman.

Birmingham opened talks with Alaves over signing the frontman last week, with GIVEMESPORT correspondent Ben Jacobs revealing on Monday that the Blues were “close to signing” the player.

Carlos Vicente Could Help Push Birmingham Up Championship Table

Vicente has predominantly played as a right winger for Alaves, scoring five goals in 21 appearances in La Liga this season – the last of those coming at the weekend when the 26-year-old scored the first goal in a 2-1 win over Real Betis.

The forward applauded the supporters who chanted for him to stay at the club when he was substituted in the 83rd minute of the victory. In a report in Noticas de Alava, his display was described as an “outstanding performance”.

Birmingham sit 13th in the Championship table, following promotion from League One last season, just five points off the play-off places with the last position held by one of the teams who came up from League One with them – Wrexham.

They dropped points in the race for a play-off place in a 1-1 draw with Stoke City at the weekend, with manager Chris Davies’ quotes after the game suggesting why the Blues have made a move to bring in another forward.

Jay Stansfield became the League One record signing when arriving in a £15million deal last season and with Priske arriving from Djurgarden this month already, the forward line is being revamped.

Chris Davies Rues Lack of Goals Against Stoke

Speaking after the stalemate with the Potters, Davies said: “We grew into the game as the half went on, scored a good goal from a set-piece, then finished strong.”

“We started the second half really well but we needed that second goal, we really did. It was one of those games where we needed that goal to go in when we were on top. If we got the second goal we probably wouldn’t look back.”

Birmingham have scored 39 goals so far this season, with 11 teams netting fewer than that in England’s second tier. Vicente has 21 goal contributions in 76 La Liga appearances, suggesting he would be a good signing for the Championship side.

The final details on the transfer are being ironed out, with Vicente due to travel to England for his medical this week.

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