Middlesbrough hijack Birmingham new signing in ‘massive’ twist
Middlesbrough now look set to beat Championship rivals Birmingham City in the race to sign Jeremy Sarmiento in a permanent deal from Brighton after a late twist.
Sarmiento has struggled to ever nail down a consistent berth in Brighton‘s starting eleven amid numerous loan spells away from the Amex Stadium over the last few years.
He has spent time with West Brom, Ipswich Town and Burnley in the previous three seasons, helping the latter two achieve promotion to the Premier League as Championship runners-up.
The Ecuador international was sent out on loan to Serie A side Cremonese in the summer, but has only made seven appearances so far, with the last of those coming on 7 November.
Brighton have looked set to exercise their January recall clause, with Birmingham leading Boro in the race to land his services permanently, but the Teessiders have reportedly hijacked the move at the eleventh hour.
Sarmiento now close to joining Boro for £3.4m as move given green light
Sarmiento has been hours away from joining 13th-placed Championship side Birmingham, but a new report from Sky Italia’s Luca Bendoni claims that Boro have stolen a march on their rivals late on to sign him.
Kim Hellberg’s side are pushing to land Sarmiento on a permanent deal for around £3.4million, with the move believed to be “very close” after his Birmingham switch stalled in the last few hours.
Sarmiento has given the green light to go ahead with his move to Middlesbrough, who are chasing promotion to the Premier League, sitting third in the second tier right now.
Birmingham battling Premier League and Championship rivals to sign Harry McGlinchey
Birmingham’s lofty ambitions have not been matched so far this term, with boss Chris Davies under pressure to stage a late playoff push in the second half of the season.
Midfielder Jhon Solis has joined Birmingham on loan from Girona, while Davies’ attacking ranks have been added to this month, with Ibrahim Osman signed on loan from Brighton earlier this week to help push them towards the top six.
They are still after more signings, with Football Insider revealing on Wednesday that Birmingham are tracking Chelsea defender McGlinchey, alongside Wolves and Sheffield United.
The 18-year-old is free to leave the Blues this month, with a sell-on clause to be included in a move away, and Davies will hope that the club is able to coax him to the Second City with the offer of a quicker pathway to first-team football.