Championship side Birmingham City are among the frontrunners to sign Brighton winger Jeremy Sarmiento during the January transfer window.
Birmingham Lead Jeremy Sarmiento Race
Jeremy Sarmiento is reportedly closing in on a move to Championship side Birmingham.
The Ecuadorian is currently on loan at newly promoted Serie A side Cremonese. Struggling for minutes in Italy, Brighton are set to recall the winger before shipping him out permanently.
Sarmiento hasn’t started a single league game this term, appearing only seven times from the bench in the Italian top flight. His most recent outing came against Pisa in early November.
Now set to return to England, the winger’s prospective arrival at St Andrew’s will come as a major boost to Chris Davies’ side amid their underwhelming form in the second tier as of late.
Club chiefs had held major promotion hopes for the Blues ahead of the 2025-26 campaign.
They currently sit in 14th place in the table after 27 games however, with Davies now among the bookmakers’ favourites in the Championship sack race odds market.
Lee Carsley is favoured as his replacement in the next Birmingham manager odds market.
Alongside the Blues, Wrexham and Middlesbrough are said to be interested in Sarmiento.
The 23-year-old reportedly agreed on personal terms to join Boro earlier in the window, however the move collapsed after the Teesside club were unable to agree on a fee with the Seagulls.
Birmingham have now seemingly won the race for the forward, who is expected to follow January signings Kai Wagner and Jhon Solis through the door in the West Midlands.
His deal at the Amex runs until 2027, and he is valued at around £4.35m by Transfermarkt.
This isn’t the only deal that the Seagulls are currently exploring with a Championship side, as Brighton want Charlton’s Micah Mbick and have had two offers rebuffed for the striker.
Sarmiento Promotion Record Bodes Well for Blues
Although they have undoubtedly underperformed since making their return to England’s second tier, Birmingham’s ambitious promotion hopes are not yet dead in the water.
They are currently eight points adrift of the playoffs with 19 games still to play.
The acquisition of Sarmiento could be the catalyst in turning their season around and reigniting their promotion hopes, with his record in the division boding well for the Blues.
He has previously been promoted from the Championship to the Premier League on two occasions, first with Ipswich in 2023-24 and then with Burnley in 2024-25.
Sarmiento also enjoyed a productive spell on loan at West Brom at the end of 2023.
In total, he has made 75 appearances in the second tier, scoring nine and assisting two.
Elsewhere, Birmingham are closing in on a deal to sign August Priske from Djurgarden.
They return to action in the Championship against bottom-of-the-table Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday night, where they’ll be looking to extend their unbeaten run to four straight matches.
