Source: Union trade of defender Kai Wagner to Birmingham City is imminent

While both parties are still ironing out the terms of the deal, the transaction could officially be announced before the week’s end, closing Wagner’s seven-year run in Philadelphia.

Defender Kai Wagner is in the final stages of a deal that will send him to England's Birmingham City, ending a seven-year run with the Union. Read moreYong Kim / Staff Photographer

by Kerith Gabriel

Published Jan. 1, 2026, 11:33 a.m. ET

A source with knowledge of the situation confirmed an overnight report that the Union are preparing to transfer longtime defender Kai Wagner to English Championship side Birmingham City.

News of the deal was first reported by soccer reporter Jose R. Nunez via X, late Wednesday. The Inquirer learned that while both parties are still ironing out the terms of the deal, the transaction could officially be announced before the week’s end, closing Wagner’s seven-year run in Philadelphia.

While the terms of the deal have not been announced, Sky Sports reported a transfer fee of €2.3 million for Wagner, or roughly $2.7 million. Upon completion, Wagner will join a Birmingham City side that’s currently sitting 16th in the EFL Championship standings and winless in its last five games.

Birmingham is the same club that saw NFL great Tom Brady receive a minority ownership stake in 2023 and has since been on a publicized push to return the team to the top of the EFL standings and even compete for promotion to the English Premier League.

Wagner, 28, coming off an All-Star season with the Union, is widely considered one of the best defenders in Major League Soccer. He has made 204 league appearances and 251 in all competitions since the Union acquired his rights from German side FC Schalke on Feb. 6, 2019.

During that span, Wagner is credited with eight goals and 58 assists (11 assists in 2025). In addition to being a staunch defender, Wagner was effective in attack, delivering pinpoint crosses into the penalty area. Over his years in Philadelphia, Wagner was the subject of several trade rumors, both within and outside Major League Soccer, with the latest before the Birmingham news suggesting that current MLS champion Inter Miami could’ve been his next stop.

Wagner is set to be the club’s latest in a trio of blockbuster trades this offseason. Last month, the team traded forward Tai Baribo to D.C. United. Baribo, named an MLS All-Star, was the team’s top scorer in 2025 and was sent for a reported $4 million transfer fee.

Additionally, the Union parted ways with longtime defender Jakob Glesnes, now with the Los Angeles Galaxy, for a reported $2.2 million in allocation money. Glesnes ended the 2025 campaign named to MLS’s Best XI.

Wagner’s playmaking ability was undeniable during his time on the Chester waterfront. Concerns about his character, however, arose after he was suspended in 2023 for violating MLS’s on-field discrimination policy, following allegations that he used a racist slur toward former New England forward and U.S. men’s national team forward Bobby Wood.

The incident resulted in Wagner being hit with a three-game suspension during the heart of the MLS Playoffs, and needing to undergo the league’s new restorative practices program. He was set to have that suspension run into the start of the 2024 season, but MLS confirmed that Wagner had completed the required training and lifted his ban.

The Union will kick off their 2026 preseason campaign on Jan. 17 in Marbella, Spain. The club’s first official games of the year will arrive in the Concacaf Champions Cup with a game against Trinidadian side Defence Force on Feb. 18 in Port of Spain, followed by a return leg at Subaru Park on Feb. 26.

The club’s MLS season opener will be on the road against D.C. United on Feb. 21 (7:30 p.m., Apple TV).