Why would Birmingham City want to sign Nottingham Forest’s Jonathan Panzo?

Nottingham Forest defender Jonathan Panzo has emerged on Birmingham City’s transfer radar.

It could be an exciting season for Birmingham City in the Championship this campaign.

Optimism is high at St Andrew’s after Tom Wagner’s takeover earlier this year, while NFL legend Tom Brady has become a minority owner and chairman of the club’s advisory board.

The positivity in the stands has been backed up with a strong start to the season on the pitch, with the Blues following a 1-1 draw at Swansea City on the opening day with an impressive 1-0 home win over Leeds United on Saturday.

Wagner has provided manager John Eustace with significant backing this summer in the transfer market, bringing in Tyler Roberts, Krystian Bielik, Ethan Laird, Koji Miyoshi, Siriki Dembele, Dion Sanderson, Keshi Anderson and Lee Buchanan and there is likely to be more to come before the end of the transfer window.

Birmingham have reportedly agreed a fee to sign Midtylland striker Sory Kaba, who scored eight goals and provided one assist in 17 appearances during a loan spell at Cardiff City last season and it would be a coup for the club to land his signature, with the 28-year-old said to be attracting interest from six Championship sides.

According to BirminghamLive, the Blues are also interested in signing Nottingham Forest defender Jonathan Panzo.

Who is Jonathan Panzo?

Panzo joined Chelsea’s academy at the age of nine and he departed to join French side Monaco in July 2018.

The defender struggled to establish himself in the Monaco first team and he spent the 2019-20 season on loan with Cercle Brugge in Belgium before making the move to Dijon in August 2020.

Panzo joined Nottingham Forest in January 2022, reuniting with Steve Cooper after the pair worked together with England U17s, but his minutes were limited at the City Ground.

He completed a loan move to Coventry City last summer, scoring one goal and providing one assist in 32 appearances in all competitions for the Sky Blues last season as they reached the Championship play-off final and Mark Robins is reportedly keen to bring him back to the club this summer.

Panzo’s performances at the Coventry Building Society Arena have alerted a number of clubs and after a move to Scottish Premiership side Rangers collapsed, he is said to be attracting interest from Cardiff City and West Bromwich Albion, as well as European sides.

Birmingham have become the latest club to join the race for Panzo, but they face no shortage of competition for his signature.

Why do Birmingham City want to sign Jonathan Panzo?

Coventry had the best defence in the Championship last season, keeping 22 clean sheets.

Panzo contributed to impressive 14 clean sheets in the 31 league games he featured in, with the Sky Blues conceding just 21 goals in the time the defender was on the pitch.

According to Sofascore, Panzo averaged 1.7 interceptions and 1.6 tackles per game, while he won two aerial duels on average per game, as per Whoscored.

It is easy to see why the Blues have identified Panzo as a target and centre-back is a position Eustace is in need of reinforcements in with only Sanderson, Marc Roberts and Kevin Long on the club’s books.