Championship transfer news from CoventryLive as Sky Blues' Midland rivals Birmingham City 'sign' reported January target Abdoulie Manneh from Swedish Champions
10:59, 12 Jan 2026
Mjällby's Abdoulie Manneh (front row, centre) is a January transfer target for Coventry City, according to reports in Sweden
Mjällby's Abdoulie Manneh (front row, centre) is reported to be joining Birmingham City, having earlier been a reported Coventry City target according to reports in Sweden(Image: )
Coventry City’s Championship rivals Birmingham are reported to have secured the services of Abdoulie Manneh – a player who was strongly linked with the Sky Blues last month.
According to the Swedish press, City had been leading the chase of the 21-year-old forward from Mjällby AIF who was also claimed to be wanted by Stoke.
But GiveMeSport today report that the Gambian international, whose primary position is as an attacking midfielder/number ten, is due at St Andrew’s in the next 24 hours after “agreeing a permanent deal” with Blues.
He will become the second Birmingham addition during the transfer window, following on from the capture of left-back Kai Wagner from Philadelphia Union last week – coincidentally, another player who was strongly linked with interest from the Sky Blues last summer, and who also had a particularly impressive game against Coventry in the 3-2 defeat just over a week ago.
Frank Lampard last week bolstered his own attack with the signing of wingers Min-Hyeok Yang from Tottenham and Romain Esse from Crystal Palace. Esse, who predominantly plays on the right flank, can also play as a number ten and showed his versatility on his debut at the weekend when he started out wide against Stoke and then switched inside when Tatsuhiro Sakamoto was thrown on from the bench and Jack Rudoni withdrawn midway through the second half.
Lampard also revealed recently that while the club are still open to add more players in the January transfer window, he’s not looking to further strengthen the front end of the pitch.
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