Championship rival trying to hijack Birmingham’s move for Premier League player in big transfer twist

Jan 21, 2026 - 20:30

Middlesbrough have launched an 11th-hour hijack of Jeremy Sarmiento’s move to Birmingham City, talkSPORT understands.

The Blues had almost agreed a deal with Brighton to sign the winger, but promotion-chasing Boro have made a late move.

Sarmiento (right) has a choice to make now

Middlesbrough are discussing a deal with the Seagulls for £3.5million as they look to return to the Premier League.

It had looked as if the 23-year-old was going to join Birmingham after Middlesbrough pulled out of talks over a loan move.

But Boro chairman and owner Steve Gibson has returned, and they want to sign him permanently.

Sarmiento is currently on loan from Brighton to Cremonese, where he has been playing with Jamie Vardy.

But the Seagulls are looking to recall him to sell the Ecuadorian international on, and he’s only made seven appearances this season for the Italian side.

From Boro’s point of view, this is a player who knows the Championship well, having played for Burnley and West Bromwich Albion.

In 75 games in England’s second tier, he has nine goals and two assists.

The decision now lies with Sarmiento to choose his next club, but if he is thinking about getting into the Premier League, Boro might be the best bet.

The North East club are third in the Championship, one point behind Ipswich Town for the race to the top-flight.

Meanwhile, Birmingham are down in 13th place.

Sarmiento’s experience stands him out as a good choice despite being a young player

Sarmiento has been training with Vardy for the past few months

Battle on

No matter which club Sarmiento joins, Brighton stand to make a hefty bit of profit on Sarmiento, having spent under £500,000 to sign him from Benfica.

It’s clear why Middlesbrough and Birmingham want him; Sarmiento’s EFL experience and ability to play in numerous roles across the attacking part of the pitch.

Kim Hellberg has made a good start to life as Boro manager, with six wins from ten in the Championship.

His team are playing free-flowing football and are looking good to at least make the play-offs.

Meanwhile, big things were expected of Birmingham after some huge signings in recent years, but it’s not quite happened.

They aren’t doing badly, and most newly-promoted sides would be relatively happy with mid-table halfway through a season.

But with ambitious owners, comes great expectations, and they are five points off the play-offs, so a big January could get them in there come the end of the season.