Derby County in pole position to close in for £5m-rated Lommel winger Koki Saito amidst Birmingham City competition
Birmingham City have reportedly submitted a bid to sign Lommel winger Koki Saito but face competition from several Championship rivals.
Blues, eager to bolster their depth and quality in wide areas, are considering their options. Chris Davies is delighted with what he’s seen from his squad so far this season but there’s always room for improvement, especially when considering how long and arduous a Championship campaign can become.
After loaning out Emil Hansson to Blackpool and letting Ayumu Yokoyama leave permanently for KRC Genk, Birmingham are a little light on the left flank. Saito can play on both sides or through the centre but he’s predominantly featured on the left, so he could fit the bill.
Birmingham and Derby ‘bidding’ for £5m winger
Blues have reportedly decided they want to pursue a move for Saito after he enjoyed a successful season-long loan at Queens Park Rangers in 2024/25. The Telegraph’s Mike McGrath reports Birmingham are ‘among teams bidding’ for the former Japan Under-23 international. Derby County are in the race and as are QPR, eager to re-sign Saito.
It awaits to be seen whether the bids are for permanent deals or another loan, but McGrath describes Saito as a ‘£5 million-rated player’. With the competition fierce, there’s a ‘decision to be made’ on where Saito will play his football this season and that could be tricky as all three clubs offer something a little different.
If game time is Saito’s priority, then a move to either Derby or QPR would be best. John Eustace could utilise the 24-year-old as another option on the left flank to compete with Corey Blackett-Taylor, whereas QPR boss Julien Stephan could make use of Saito in the same role that previous head coach Marti Cifuentes did last term.
Choosing Birmingham would be a risk but one perhaps worth taking. Of the three clubs, Blues undoubtedly have the loftiest ambitions for the campaign ahead and are being firmly tipped to be in the fight for promotion. Although he would likely be behind the likes of Demarai Gray, Keshi Anderson, Kanya Fujimoto and Jay Stansfield in the wide areas, it could be a great experience to be at the top end of the table.
Blues continue Asian trend as Tom Wagner approach clear
Birmingham signing players from Asia has developed into quite the pattern in recent seasons and they could continue the trend if they bring in Saito. It all began with Japanese winger Koji Miyoshi and South Korean midfielder Paik Seung-ho back in 2023/24, and now it’s continued with a spree across several seasons.
Since last summer, Blues have gone on to sign Yokoyama from Sagan Tosu, Tomoki Iwata from Celtic, Myung-jae Lee from Ulsan Hyundai, Fujimoto from Gil Vicente and Kyogo Furuhashi from Stade Rennais. If Saito were to put pen to paper, he would become the eighth Japanese or South Korean to sign for Blues in the past three years.
Not only is this an intelligent approach in a footballing sense with Blues clearly finding a gap in the transfer market, but it’s also a superb way of attracting fans from the other side of the world. One of Knighthead’s big priorities is to grow Birmingham’s global fanbase and signing a host of players from Asia will only help in achieving that.
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