Birmingham City linked with transfer for £4m rated winger after English club failed

Birmingham City have been credited with an interest in NEC Nijmegen winger Sontje Hansen. Blues are likely to be in the market once again this summer having secured promotion back to the Championship, with minimal fuss, at the first time of asking.

Incoming boss Chris Davies, together with Craig Gardner, worked hard last summer to overhaul the squad which saw a dozen or so senior players depart and more than that number, permanently or on loan, recruited.

That included the wide areas. Emil Hansson and Scott Wright, as well as the lesser spotted Ayumu Yokoyama, were all signed as Blues refreshed their wing ranks ahead of the League One campaign, but those signings didn't exactly bear fruit. The former pair were injured for large portions of the season and Yokoyama was loaned out in January.

Blues will likely look to recruit out wide again. Already, Kwame Poku - set to leave Peterborough United on the expiry of his contract - has been strongly linked, while Blues have been tipped to make moves to bring academy pair Nathan Redmond and Demarai Gray back ahead of the Championship campaign.

Hansen is the latest name to emerge in the same sentence as Blues. Sky Sports News report that the club have made contact with NEC and enquired about his availability this summer, having been the subject of interest from Burnley in January - they reportedly had a loan move turned down and turned their attentions instead to Marcus Edwards of Sporting.

Hansen, 23, has two years remaining on his contract with NEC, who play in the Netherlands' Eredivisie, but a number of clubs from around Europe are said to be keeping tabs on him after another fruitful individual campaign last season; last season, he contributed 11 goals and assists in 34 appearances.

The Netherlands under 21 international, valued at £4m by Transfermarkt , is a product of the famed Ajax academy but signed for NEC on a free transfer in the summer of 2023, agreeing a four-year contract upon arrival. He made a couple of appearances for Ajax's first team, but it's been with NEC where Hansen's senior career has really taken off.

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