Hannover seal transfer of new defender as Birmingham City await Phil Neumann clarity
Hannover 96 have completed the signing of centre back Boris Tomiak from 2. Bundesliga rivals Kaiserslautern - which now leaves an intriguing situation regarding their existing option and Birmingham City transfer target Phil Neumann.
Hannover, who are currently fighting for promotion back to Germany's top flight come the end of the season, have failed to get Neumann to agree a new contract, with his existing deal due to expire in the summer; as of this month, the centre half is permitted to speak to clubs overseas and agree on contract details.
Neumann, who represented Germany at youth level, has been a regular for Hannover since joining the club from Holsten Kiel in 2022 and has helped the club, at the halfway stage in this season, to be in with a shout of clinching promotion back to the top league for the first time since 2019.
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Blues, who exploited the German market to great effect in the summer to bring fellow centre half Christoph Klarer despite the club's relegation to League One, have a strong interest in Neumann. They have a headstart on their Bundesliga rivals because they're an overseas club, meaning they've been allowed to make contact with the player and his representatives now.
Whether Blues are able to bring Neumann to the club this month remains to be seen, or whether - which was previously considered likelier - they'll wait for the summer, by which point they'll expect to welcome the towering defender to the West Midlands with their Championship status restored.
Sporting director of 96 Marcus Mann has explained how Hannover and Kaiserslautern got together and discussed the potential of a move for Tomiak, meanwhile, with his contract up in the summer, too: "We have had Boris on our radar for a long time and had already reached agreement with him about a transfer in the summer after his contract ended. Now a good solution has emerged in the talks with FCK, so that we can now get him and integrate him into our squad."
