Birmingham City could pave way for Aston Villa to sign future Pau Torres replacement
Aston Villa could receive some big transfer help from their bitter rivals.
With Unai Emery‘s side clinging on to Premier League title contention, Aston Villa were always expected to be busy in January.
2026 started with a bang on the transfer front too, with Alysson signing for Villa on New Year’s Day, with the highly-rated 19-year-old winger set to make his debut against Spurs in the FA Cup on Saturday.
The recruitment of young, high-potential players looks to be a major focus point this month, with Aston Villa agreeing to sign Brian Madjo from Metz.
Madjo only turns 17 on 12 January, and the former England youth international striker is now a full Luxembourg international.
Aston Villa to will Birmingham on as part of Pau Torres succession plan
It won’t just be incomings at Villa Park this month, as club chiefs look to remain in the governing bodies’ good books in relation to PSR.
Therefore, outgoings will surely have to be accommodated over the next couple of weeks, but Emery won’t want to lose any key players mid-season though.
Barcelona have been strongly linked with Pau Torres this winter, with the 28-year-old central defender only making 12 Premier League appearances so far in 2025-26, largely due to injury.
However, the Spaniard may not be longed for a Villa Park stay, and Aston Villa have been credited with an interest in Tarik Muharemovic as a potential long-term replacement, with the 22-year-old centre-back starring in Serie A for Sassuolo.
And, in a fresh report from Italian journalist Maurizio Russo via X on Friday, Sassuolo are weighing up a move for Birmingham City defender Phil Neumann, potentially with a Muharemovic exit in mind.
Russo does state that Neumann joining wouldn’t necessarily be linked to a possible departure for Muharemovic, but it might offer a glimpse into the thinking of Sassuolo chiefs.
The irony will not be lost on Villa fans that their near neighbours could therefore be giving them a helping hand this window.
Who is Tarik Muharemovic?
At 22, Muharemovic has been a key member of Sassuolo’s first-team side since he joined the club on an initial loan deal from Juventus in the summer of 2024.
The Bosnia and Herzegovina international was essential to the Emilia-Romagna-based team’s Serie B title-winning 2024-25 season, playing 28 times whilst scoring one goal and providing two assists.
So far in 2025-26, the 6’2″ centre-back – who can also operate at left-back – has started 16 of their 19 Serie A games and has bagged two goals as well as two assists, with the club currently sitting 11th of 20 in their first season back in the Italian top flight.
- Muharemovic is averaging a 7/10 rating per Serie A match this season – per FotMob
- He’s won 78 duels at a success rate of 64.5 per cent
- He’s also played 48 accurate long balls, which ranks in the top 10.1 percentile of Serie A central defenders
Muharemovic began his professional career in Austrian football with Wolfsberger AC, before being signed by Juventus in the summer of 2021.
Stay up to date this winter with our Aston Villa transfer tracker. Click to see every done deal at Villa Park, plus expert reaction from our team of writers.