By james art 
Birmingham City will be looking to make it an incredible ten wins from 13 League One games next weekend when Northampton Town visit St Andrews.
The Blues moved into the tough division with ease, aided by Blues owner Tom Wagner giving Chris Davies plenty to spend in the summer, which led to the arrival of Jay Stansfield, Willam Thor Williamson and many others who all became reliable first-teamers performers for their manager in their new environment.
Away from the flashy strikers at his disposal, however, Davies also has a solid defense thanks to some more summer transfer activity, with Christoph Klarer proving an instant hit after arriving from Germany.
Clarer’s form this season
Klarer has been a near-constant member of Birmingham’s back four since joining from SV Darmstadt 98, with the 6ft 3 centre-back imposing himself on games as a dominant force in the air, playing 90 minutes in every league game apart from the opening day against Reading .
Amazingly, the Blues’ brand new number four has averaged seven successful tackles per Ligue 1 game since returning home to England, with the 24-year-old collecting three clean sheets from the 11 third-tier games he has featured in.
His FA Cup final appearance away to non-league Sutton United ensured the Blues did not fall victim to an unwanted Cup shock as the Austrian star won eight tackles in the space of 90 minutes to help his side to victory 1-0 while dictating the play from the back as a calm client with 107 touches amassed.
Birmingham may now be ready to shop back in Germany for more defensive recruits this January, therefore, with a potential move rumored for a target to shine alongside Klarer at the heart of the defence.
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Birmingham could seal the dream signing of Klarer
According to a report from Football Insider at the weekend, the Ligue 1 table leaders are preparing a new and improved bid for Hannover star Phil Neumann in January after having a £3.4m offer knocked back by the 2.Bundesliga club in the summer.
Klarer will be familiar with Neumann as he played for the same side as the Hannover man for various years before moving to Birmingham, with the 27-year-old also having a similar style as a player at the back compared to the Blues titan .
|
Klarer v. Neumann (24/25) |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Statistics (* = per game) |
Clarer |
Neumann |
|
Games played |
11 |
11 |
|
goals scored |
0 |
0 |
|
Assists |
1 |
0 |
|
Touches* |
104.8 |
68.8 |
|
Accurate passes* |
79.0 (87%) |
41.4 (81%) |
|
interceptions* |
1.2 |
1.9 |
|
Selections* |
1.5 |
1.0 |
|
Ball Recovery* |
3.5 |
4.1 |
|
Distances* |
4.5 |
4.5 |
|
Total Duels Won* |
7.0 |
4.8 |
|
Clean sheets |
3 |
6 |
|
Statistics from Sofascore |
||
Looking at the table above, it’s clear that both defenders excel as ball-handling defenders as much as they pride themselves on their fundamentals, with Neumann putting up similar numbers to Klarer when it comes to interceptions, ball recoveries and clearance as well as accurate passing in 90 minutes.
But Hannover’s in-demand ace does indeed boast twice as many clean sheets as his Birmingham counterpart, with a hugely impressive four shutouts collected in his last five league appearances.
Davies would be happy to secure Neumann’s services in the upcoming transfer window, so the move would potentially make Birmingham even more stable at the back as promotion is chased.
There is no doubting the buying power Birmingham have with Wagner as their chairman as the American begins to consider more high-profile purchases like this to ensure promotion is sealed convincingly without worrying the current league leaders.
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