Hull City are interested in Birmingham City defender Phil Neumann as they seek to bolster their team following promotion to the Premier League.

The German agreed to join Blues on a pre-contract in January 2025, which was regarded as a significant coup for the club given Neumann’s previous success with Hannover 96.

However, he had to fight for a place in Chris Davies’ starting lineup, but the 29-year-old did impress at times, despite Birmingham’s poor season, which saw them miss out on the play-offs.

Hull City are interested in Birmingham City center-back Phil Neumann.

Neumann’s efforts in royal blue appear to have been outstanding, as writer Rudy Galetti has stated that Hull City has’shown interest’ in the player.

He reveals that Sergej Jakirovic is looking for a new center-back this summer, and Neumann is now on the’shortlist’ for the newly promoted club, although no fee is specified.

Blues will believe they are in a strong negotiation position with Neumann, who still has two years remaining on his contract from when he came.

Neumann started and played 77 minutes for Birmingham in their final pre-season friendly against Barcelona last week, and he is anticipated to be in the starting lineup for their Championship opener at Sheffield United alongside Christoph Klarer.

Phil Neumann’s 25/26 Championship Statistics (Source: Sofascore)

Appearances

32

Goals

3

Assists

– Clean sheets.

8

Tackles Per Game

1.2

Balls Recovered per Game

2.9

Clearances per Game

6.7

Top Speed

35.9 km/h

Birmingham City must hold firm on Phil Neumann’s valuation amid Hull City interest.

This is a rather odd link, as Neumann is clearly a talented player, but he did not stick out for Blues last season, and he has spent his whole career in the second tier, whether in Germany or England.

So, bringing him in after promotion to the Premier League would be a risk for Hull, but it doesn’t mean he couldn’t handle it.

From the Blues’ perspective, any transaction would be entirely about the money. It looks that Neumann is currently in Davies’ chosen XI, with Christoph Klarer in the centre of the defence, so his departure would be a shock.

However, with Dael Fry joining and Jack Robinson staying at the club, Birmingham now have two EFL-proven central defenders, and a huge sale would allow them to spend more.

As a result, the fee would be the primary consideration in any potential transaction. At 29, this is likely to be the final chance Blues have to pay Neumann a significant sum, thus it may make commercial sense.

Another element to examine is Neumann’s point of view. On the one hand, the appeal of the Premier League is apparent, especially at this juncture of his career, but if he isn’t guarantyd game time, there will be doubts about whether he should leave Blues, who are also aiming for promotion.

That means there are a lot of factors to consider for both teams and the player in this transaction, and it will be interesting to watch whether Hull make a bid for Neumann before the deadline.