{"id":646379,"date":"2025-12-21T14:04:19","date_gmt":"2025-12-21T14:04:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/646379\/"},"modified":"2025-12-21T14:04:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-21T14:04:19","slug":"3-central-midfielders-to-eye-in-the-january-window","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/646379\/","title":{"rendered":"3 central midfielders to eye in the January window"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"lar-automated-link\" href=\"https:\/\/the72.co.uk\/category\/birmingham-city\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Birmingham<\/a> City are looking to add a handful of players to their ranks in January, with a central midfielder among those targeted.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"lar-automated-link\" href=\"https:\/\/the72.co.uk\/category\/birmingham-city\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Birmingham<\/a> City have had a mixed campaign to date, sitting 13th in the Championship. For most newly-promoted sides, this would be a fine position, but BCFC are no ordinary newly-promoted side.<\/p>\n<p>The Blues have big ambitions and the talent on the books to challenge for promotion this season. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sport\/football\/articles\/c773m77xpn6o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Chris Davies<\/a> will feel that with a handful of signings, his side can really attack the second half of the campaign.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"584\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2025-08-08T190817Z_2100276859_UP1EL881H5RAZ_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-ENGLAND-BIR-IPS-900x584.jpg\" alt=\"BCFC - Birmingham City players huddle before the match\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>Image courtesy of: CRAIG BROUGH\/REUTERS.<\/p>\n<p>And, ahead of the <a href=\"https:\/\/the72.co.uk\/2025\/12\/13\/birmingham-city-january-transfer-moves\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">January transfer window<\/a>, it has been reported that <a href=\"https:\/\/the72.co.uk\/2025\/12\/16\/birmingham-city-january-signings-wanted-transfer-window\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">three signings are wanted<\/a>. Some left-back cover is needed, another option at striker is being weighed up, and a new central midfielder is also on the shopping list.<\/p>\n<p>With that said, we put forward three midfield players <a class=\"lar-automated-link\" href=\"https:\/\/the72.co.uk\/category\/birmingham-city\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Birmingham<\/a> City should consider as potential January targets\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Jamie Roche \u2013 Laussane Sport<\/p>\n<p>Starting off with a slightly more left-field option, but Jamie Roche could be perfect for <a class=\"lar-automated-link\" href=\"https:\/\/the72.co.uk\/category\/birmingham-city\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Birmingham<\/a> City. Standing at 191cm tall and boasting great strength and stamina, he could be the midfield powerhouse that has been missing since Tomoki Iwata\u2019s right-back switch.<\/p>\n<p>Roche is 24 and has been with Switzerland\u2019s Laussane Sport since 2023. He made his breakthrough in his native Sweden and has come on leaps and bounds since then, sampling European football in the UEFA Conference League.<\/p>\n<p>Roche might not break the bank and could be an instant starter for BCFC. He has the physical attributes to add power to this side and succeed in England.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"594\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/2025-10-23T194820Z_748922266_UP1ELAN1J0J6H_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-CONFERENCE-HAM-LS-900x594.jpg\" alt=\"Hamrun Spartans' Saliou Thioune in action with Lausanne Sports' Jamie Roche\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>Image courtesy of: DARRIN ZAMMIT LUPI\/REUTERS.<\/p>\n<p>Dan Neil \u2013 <a class=\"lar-automated-link\" href=\"https:\/\/the72.co.uk\/category\/sunderland\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\">Sunderland<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"lar-automated-link\" href=\"https:\/\/the72.co.uk\/category\/birmingham-city\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Birmingham<\/a> City might be one of several clubs eyeing Dan Neil as a potential January target. <a class=\"lar-automated-link\" href=\"https:\/\/the72.co.uk\/category\/sunderland\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\">Sunderland<\/a>\u2019s promotion-winning captain has barely played in the Premier League and may eye an exit for more game time.<\/p>\n<p>Though slightly shorter and slighter in stature, Neil still possesses a good level of physicality. He is a well-rounded midfielder with a wide passing range and the dogged determination in duels required at St. Andrew\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>This could be a winter loan deal for the Blues to strike with the scope of something more long-term in the summer.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dan Neil\u2019s <a class=\"lar-automated-link\" href=\"https:\/\/the72.co.uk\/category\/sunderland\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\">Sunderland<\/a> stats<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Andy Irving \u2013 West Ham United<\/p>\n<p>Last but not least is Andy Irving, who is said to have <a href=\"https:\/\/the72.co.uk\/2025\/11\/28\/wrexham-january-bid-west-ham-andy-irving\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">drawn Wrexham interest<\/a> as he prepares for a West Ham exit. The Scot has found a handful of opportunities in the first-team but if he wants to play every week, a drop to the Championship could be beneficial.<\/p>\n<p>Irving is perhaps the most forward-thinking of the three midfielders suggested but he has the size and frame to bring the desired power to the <a class=\"lar-automated-link\" href=\"https:\/\/the72.co.uk\/category\/birmingham-city\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Birmingham<\/a> City midfield. <\/p>\n<p>The Hammers are unlikely to demand a lot to let him go. It could be a shrewd deal for BCFC, allowing them to spend more elsewhere.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Birmingham City are looking to add a handful of players to their ranks in January, with a central&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":646380,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[109971,109972,855,12905,1205,109973,97826,748,9030,393,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-646379","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-bcfc","9":"tag-bcfc-news","10":"tag-birmingham","11":"tag-birmingham-city","12":"tag-birmingham-city-fc","13":"tag-birmingham-city-fc-news","14":"tag-birmingham-city-news","15":"tag-britain","16":"tag-championship","17":"tag-england","18":"tag-great-britain","19":"tag-uk","20":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115757939494902976","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646379","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=646379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/646380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=646379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=646379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=646379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}