Birmingham City will hope to be among the clubs competing for promotion to the Premier League next season.

The play-offs will expand to include two more teams in 2026/27, giving the Blues even more cause to be confident about a promotion drive.

Chris Davies’ side finished a solid 10th on their return to the second tier last season, but that wasn’t enough to keep heat off the head coach.

Craig Gardner resigned as director of football shortly after the campaign ended.

Since being taken over by Knighthead Capital, the Midlands club has invested extensively in order to earn promotion to the Premier League as soon as possible.

However, without a new director of football in place, Birmingham’s sole additions this summer have been Dael Fry and the permanent arrival of Jhon Solis, who signed on loan from Girona in January with an option to buy.

Birmingham City identifies new director of football target.

According to Football Insider, Birmingham have chosen former Norwich City recruitment chief Stuart Webber as their top candidate to take over as director of football.

The 42-year-old is presently working for Red Bull at RB Omiya Ardija in Japan, where Narcis Pelach has recently been named as head coach.

Webber has held this position since September 2025, and it is uncertain whether he would be willing to return to English football after almost a year in the Far East.

But Birmingham is ready to give him that opportunity as they hunt for a replacement for Gardner.

It is claimed that Red Bull has no intention of letting Webber go, thus financial compensation may be required to complete a transaction.

However, it is unclear what kind of cost would be required to lure the former Norwich and Huddersfield Town star to St. Andrew’s.

Webber received a lot of accolades for his work with the two English clubs until things went sour at Carrow Road, resulting in his departure.

He was involved in the appointments of David Wagner and Daniel Farke, who led the Terriers and Norfolk to the Premier League.

Birmingham will want Webber to play a key role in their player recruiting, which has yet to take off this summer under Davies.

Birmingham City’s move for Stuart Webber could be a sensible one.

Of course, at the conclusion of his time at Norwich, Webber was facing a lot of criticism from fans, but there is no doubt that he had a positive impact on the club as a whole.

He was behind Farke’s appointment, and he led the Canaries to two Premier League promotions during his tenure, winning the second division title each times.

And he had comparable success with Wagner at Huddersfield, so he understands what it takes to plan a return to the top flight.

The contacts he’s made at Red Bull over the last year might make him an even more useful asset to a squad like Birmingham.