Birmingham City are not slowing down in the summer transfer window in their attempt to bolster their squad ahead of a return to the Championship next season.
The Blues recently confirmed the signings of James Beadle, Tommy Doyle, Bright Osayi-Samuel, and Demarai Gray to improve their options across the pitch.
They are not done there, though, as L’Equipe recently reported that Rennes striker Kyogo Furuhashi is closing in on a move to Birmingham for a fee that could rise as high as £10m, which is how much the French side paid to sign him in January from Celtic.
Kyogo, who failed to score in six matches for Rennes, is not the only player who is reportedly on the verge of making the move to St. Andrew’s to join Chris Davies’ squad.
Birmingham City set to complete double deal
A fresh claim from GIVEMESPORT backs up L’Equipe’s news that the Japanese striker is closing in on a transfer to the Championship side this summer.
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The report adds, though, that the League One champions are also set to sign attacking midfielder Kanya Fujimoto on a free transfer, following his exit from Gil Vicente.
GIVEMESPORT claims that both Kyogo and Fujimoto are ‘expected’ to join the club before the end of the weekend, as the Blues close in on a big double deal.
The outlet reveals that Birmingham kept tabs on the former Gil Vicente star throughout the 2024/25 campaign, and they are now making their move for him.
Why Fujimoto is even more exciting than Kyogo for Birmingham
Despite Kyogo being set to sign for £10m and Fujimoto due to arrive on a free transfer, the latter looks to be the most exciting signing out of the two players.
Birmingham are signing Kyogo off the back of a very difficult season for him. As aforementioned, the striker did not score in six league games for Rennes before being immediately sold six months after joining.
The 30-year-old forward also only scored ten goals from 14.14 xG in a dominant Celtic team in the Premiership during the first half of the season, which shows that he significantly underperformed in front of goal.
This shows that Birmingham are spending a huge fee on a player who is declining and heading into the latter stages of his career, which is a big risk because there is a chance that his form does not improve.
xG
4.00
Top 4%
Goals
5
Top 3%
Shots on target
13
Top 5%
xA
2.77
Top 14%
Assists
5
Top 3%
Chances created
35
Top 8%
Successful dribbles
19
Top 16%
Whereas, as you can see in the table above, Fujimoto is arriving at the club off the back of a very impressive season with Gil Vicente in the Portuguese top-flight.
At the age of 26, he is coming into the prime years of his career and appears to be at the top of his game, ranking highly among his positional peers as both a scorer and a creator of goals in Portugal.
Fujimoto was once described as a “silky dribbler who’s dangerous in the pockets behind the striker” by analyst Ben Mattinson, and his statistics back that up, as he ranked highly as a dribbler to go along with his goal contributions.
The Japanese ace is a midfielder who can score and assist goals efficiently, outperforming his xG, and has the performances to suggest that he can hit the ground running at St. Andrew’s.
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2 ByBrett WorthingtonJul 2, 2025
This is why he is an even more exciting signing for Birmingham than Kyogo, who is coming off the back of a poor year in France and in Scotland, and is not in the prime of his career anymore.