Birmingham City set to sign international defender ahead of Newcastle United FA Cup clash

Newcastle United may be set for a quiet transfer deadline day - but the same can not be said of FA Cup fourth round opponents Birmingham City.

The current League One leaders and title favourites have already landed Rangers midfielder Kieran Dowell on loan for the rest of the season and completed a free transfer move for former Newcastle defender Grant Hanley as his seven and a half year stay at Championship club Norwich City came to an end. There have been departures from St Andrews over the last month after former Sunderland loan signing Dion Sanderson joined Blackburn Rovers for the rest of the season and wing-back Josh Williams, who had been on loan at Gateshead, joined League Two strugglers Carlisle United on a permanent deal.

However, with just hours to go until the January transfer, the ambitious Blues are set to add another new face to their squad after The Athletic reported they were close to an agreement with South Korea international Lee Myung-jae. The 31-year-old left-back has helped Ulsan HD to three K-League titles over the last decade but is currently a free agent after his contract came to an end earlier this month. The move would see manager Chris Davies find competition and cover for Alex Cochrane after Lee Buchanan suffered a season-ending injury in a goalless draw against Steve Bruce’s Blackpool last month.

Lee has earned seven caps for South Korea over the last year and remains unbeaten with five wins and three draws during those World Cup 2026 qualifying appearances. However, with three K-League titles and a South Korean Cup Final win under his belt, the experienced defender will also help Davies bring in a player with experience of achieving success in high-pressure situations - a quality he said would be key with any new addition he made during the remainder of the window.

Speaking to BirminghamLive last week, the Blues boss said: “We’ve got a great three months ahead but it’s going to be testing as well. There’s going to be pressure and expectation inside the stadium. To be able to deal with that takes strong characters and the experience helps. Some players that are young, it’s not that they are not strong characters, but sometimes they don’t have the wealth of experience to cope with those situations. For me, my gut feeling was that if we were going to bring anyone in at this time of year, I wanted it to be players that were experienced. If they had won a promotion or played plenty of games, that was what I was looking for.”

The South Korea defender may not be the only new face arriving ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup clash with Newcastle after the Blues were also linked with a move for Sheffield United youngster Kurtis Havenhand. Football League World have claimed Birmingham are in advanced talks to sign the 18-year-old striker and a deal is likely to be completed before tonight’s 11pm deadline.

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