{"id":251459,"date":"2025-07-09T18:44:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T18:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/251459\/"},"modified":"2025-07-09T18:44:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T18:44:10","slug":"birmingham-and-southampton-target-set-for-1-3m-transfer-as-club-confirm-agreement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/251459\/","title":{"rendered":"Birmingham and Southampton target set for \u00a31.3m transfer as club confirm ‘agreement’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A defender reportedly on the radar of Championship trio Sheffield United, Southampton and Birmingham City is on the verge of completing a transfer to the tune of just \u00a31.3 million.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But England\u2019s second tier, it seems, will not be his destination.<\/p>\n

Ambitious Birmingham City snapped up Celtic icon Kyogo Furuhashi<\/a> last week, arguably the most eye-catching addition of the summer window so far in the Championship. Demarai Gray has also returned to St Andrews after a spell in Saudi Arabia, while Kanya Fujimoto adds to a growing collection of East Asian talent in the Second City.<\/p>\n

Southampton signed striker Damion Downs<\/a> from Cologne on Wednesday. USA international Downs is their second signing of the Will Still era, and their second to arrive from Germany after ex-Hoffenheim defender Joshua Quarshie.<\/p>\n

Sheffield United could bring in Mihail Polendakov<\/a>, meanwhile; potentially their second new face from Bulgarian football after Ehije Ukaki.<\/p>\n

Do not be surprised if The Blades step up their pursuit of Septembri Sofia starlet Polendakov either. Because, after links with Southampton<\/a> and Birmingham City<\/a> as well as last season\u2019s beaten play-off finalists, Joe Mendes is set to take his touchline-treading talents to Turkey instead.<\/p>\n

\"JoePhoto by Gualter Fatia\/Getty ImagesJoe Mendes is not joining Birmingham City, Southampton or Sheffield United<\/p>\n

Swedish publication Expressen<\/a> reported a week ago that no fewer than five clubs were holding discussions around Braga wideman Joe Mendes. Bundesliga outfit Union Berlin had had talks, alongside three of the Championship\u2019s pre-season promotion favourites.<\/p>\n

The fifth club, meanwhile, were Turkish outfit Samsunspor.<\/p>\n

The club whose president, Yuksel Yildirim, has now taken to social media to confirm that Mendes is instead on his way to join a side who finished third behind Galatasaray and Jose Mourinho\u2019s Fenerbahce in the Super Lig table last season.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood news keeps coming [for] Samsunspor fans,\u201d Yildirim wrote on X<\/a>. \u201cAs of now, we have reached an agreement with Joe Mendes on all matters. <\/p>\n

\u201cCongratulations! The 60th anniversary gifts keep coming one by one.\u201d<\/p>\n

In their diamond jubilee year, Samsunspor are looking to continue their remarkable recent rise under Yildirim. From second-tier champions in 2023 to a podium finish in the Super Lig just 24 months later.<\/p>\n

Mendes, capped once by Sweden, is set to join for a fee of just \u00a31.3 million. He spent the 2024\/25 campaign on loan at FC Basel, and will now be allowed to leave a Braga outfit boasting one of the best young right-backs on the continent in Roger Fernandes.<\/p>\n

Birmingham land Bright Osayi-Samuel as Southampton chase right-backs<\/p>\n

Birmingham City, back in the Championship and determined to become a Premier League team again sooner rather than later, may look to take a leaf out of Samsunspor\u2019s sudden emergence as a force to be reckoned with in Turkish football.<\/p>\n

Missing out on Mendes should not prove too much of a setback though. <\/p>\n

Birmingham brought ex-QPR ace Bright Osayi-Samuel to St Andrews<\/a> last week, after all, following a spell of his own on Turkish soil. Osayi-Samuel left England as a flying winger and returns, half a decade later, as a swashbuckling right-back.<\/p>\n

Sheffield United have their sights set on Polendakov; another data-driven target.<\/p>\n

Southampton are reportedly targeting Scotland youngster Max Johnston<\/a> of Sturm Graz, meanwhile, alongside Orlando City ace Alex Freeman.<\/p>\n

Former St Mary\u2019s boss Mauricio Pochettino is a huge Freeman man<\/a>, having coached both he and the aforementioned Damion Downs for the USA national team.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A defender reportedly on the radar of Championship trio Sheffield United, Southampton and Birmingham City is on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":251460,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,12905,748,393,4884,4239,2359,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-251459","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-birmingham-city","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-sheffield-united","14":"tag-southampton","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114824758128300461","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251459\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}