3 left-backs Birmingham City should try sign after Chris Davies transfer reveal | OneFootball

Birmingham City head coach Chris Davies has revealed another left-back is on the agenda, and FLW has taken a look at three potential candidates...

Birmingham City head coach Chris Davies has revealed his intention to land a new left-back before the end of this summer's transfer window, which has borne yet another ambitious spree in the blue-and-white quarters of the Second City as Knighthead Capital Management continue their blockbuster backing.

Blues have sealed a series of stunning deals in the wake of their 2024/25 title-winning League One campaign, in which their monster points haul of 111 represented an all-time EFL record and has served to fuel tangible optimism about achieving successive promotions from the third-tier to the Premier League.

Birmingham's summer activity, of course, has only heightened the buzz of excitement around St Andrews @ Knighthead Park. The Championship promotion hopefuls have made seven signings to date, with James Beadle, Eiran Cashin, Tommy Doyle, Kanya Fujimoto, Kyogo Furuhashi, Demarai Gray and Bright Osayi-Samuel all linking up with Davies' side ahead of the upcoming 2025/26 campaign, which will be commenced with a huge curtain-raiser clash at home to freshly-relegated Ipswich Town next Friday.

As first revealed exclusively by Football League World, Birmingham are also closing in on a deal for Werder Bremen's talismanic forward, two-cap German international Marvin Ducksch. It's a deal that will just further reaffirm Birmingham's ambition, of course, marking yet another seriously exciting statement of intent.

But Blues will not be done there once Ducksch arrives.

Following City's 2-0 pre-season victory at Port Vale over the weekend, Davies revealed his desire to recruit a new left-back to provide competition and additional depth behind Alex Cochrane, who enjoyed a strong debut campaign with the club after signing from Hearts by racking up 54 appearances across all competitions but has spent almost the entirety of his Blues career with his place in the side unchallenged due to Lee Buchanan's extensive absence through injury.

Cochrane, of course, is quite clearly capable of making the step up to second-tier football, although Blues have displayed an unforgiving ambition to bolster just about any area of the squad with a marquee addition if and when one becomes available.

Although Cochrane is both capable and favoured by Davies, it would be no surprise to see another big name arrive in that area of the pitch in the next month and FLW has duly taken a look at three potential left-back acquisitions.

3 Josh Tymon

Courtesy of Knighthead's lavish backing, Birmingham can boast levels of both financial muscle and general pulling power which dwarf many of their Championship counterparts and that's exactly what could help them to a deal for Swansea City star Josh Tymon.

Perhaps one of the finest left-backs at Championship level since his move from Stoke City to South Wales in 2023, Tymon has enjoyed two standout campaigns with the Swans. He clocked up seven assists last season and created the joint-second-most chances in the entire division with 81, offering a dynamic and creative outlet up and down Swansea's left-hand side.

Tymon is direct, and his crossing ability from out wide is a huge asset. Swansea have, to date, lacked the prolific striker to maximise Tymon's wide creative threat, but the likes of Jay Stansfield and the impending Ducksch will not be passing up quite so many chances.

However, the 26-year-old is also comfortable stepping out of defence and operating in a possession-based system, having actually played the best football of his career under ex-Swans boss Luke Williams.

Whether he would be willing to leave the Swansea.com Stadium, of course, is another matter entirely.

Swansea themselves appear to be heading in an upwardly-mobile direction both on and off the pitch in recent times, yet that progression is incomparable to the sort of journey Birmingham are on and they could quite feasibly be able to offer Premier League football to the former Stoke City defender this time next year.

2 Leart Paqarada

Alternatively, Birmingham could also set their sights towards Germany, which has been a recruitment avenue explored by the club as of late, and pursue a deal for FC Koln's Leart Paqarada.

He would represent an experienced, albeit more short-term, option for Blues. At the age of 30, Paqarada is unlikely to get much better but possesses the quality and pedigree to hold his own in the Championship, having helped Koln to promotion back to the Bundesliga last term.

A 30-cap international for the Kosovo national side, the German-born defender offers a similar creative, attack-minded profile to Tymon, after he posted six assists and created a stunning 82 chances from just 30 appearances in Germany's second-tier.

He's always managed to return strong numbers for assists and that sort of creativity would be a huge plus point down Birmingham's left flank.

Birmingham would have to beat off interest from Championship rivals Bristol City, who have recently been credited with pursuing Paaqarada's signature following the appointment of his former Koln boss, Gerhard Struber.

However, it's becoming increasingly difficult for both clubs and players alike to resist Blues' advances and Paqarada would fit the bill for at least a season, with Koln's loan signing of Wolfsburg left-back Jakub Kaminski also potentially pushing the Bayer Leverkusen academy product down the pecking order.

1 Jamal Lewis

Whereas both Tymon and Paqarada, though the former in particular, could threaten to swipe Cochrane's nailed-down starting berth from his clutches, the addition of Jamal Lewis would represent a marked effort to supplement stronger depth behind the former Brighton and Hove Albion man, which will be crucial across a more gruelling and competitive 46-game league season.

Unlike the pair once again, Lewis is currently a free agent following his release this summer by Newcastle United, where he managed just 46 appearances across five years after joining from Norwich City all the way back in 2020.

A solid, dependable operator at second-tier level at his best with a penchant for bombing down the left flank with overlapping runs, Lewis can be caught out defensively - but the reality is that Birmingham, perhaps in contrast to former clubs in Norwich and Watford, have the defensive might to cover and compensate for those occasional lapses.

The real red flag would be Lewis' lack of action and readiness, with the Northern Ireland international having not made a competitive appearance since the start of November, when he was briefly on loan with Brazilian giants São Paulo.

He would require time to get up to speed, which would leave Birmingham extremely vulnerable in the event of an early-season injury to Cochrane, but it's a move that could pay off over the course of an entire campaign and carries limited risk due to it being a free transfer.

Nonetheless, Lewis has no shortage of suitors and Middlesbrough, Norwich and West Bromwich Albion have all been linked to the 27-year-old's services in the last week. Blues could do much worse than joining that race themselves.