Christoph Klarer

Christoph Klarer
Personal information
Full name Christoph Klarer[1]
Date of birth (2000-06-14) 14 June 2000
Place of birth Böheimkirchen, Austria[2]
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)[3]
Position Centre back
Team information
Current team
 Birmingham City
Number 4
Youth career
–2011 SV Böheimkirchen
2011–2016 Rapid Wien
2016–2020 Southampton
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2020 Southampton 0 (0)
2020 → St. Pölten (loan) 13 (0)
2020–2023 Fortuna Düsseldorf 74 (5)
2023–2024 Darmstadt 98 30 (2)
2024– Birmingham City 97 (5)
International career
2014–2015 Austria U15 3 (0)
2015–2016 Austria U16 6 (1)
2016–2017 Austria U17 11 (1)
2017 Austria U18 3 (0)
2018 Austria U19 4 (0)
2020–2022 Austria U21 12 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 17:10, 13 December 2025 (UTC)

Christoph Klarer (born 14 June 2000) is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as a centre back for EFL Championship club Birmingham City, whom he captains.

Career

Southampton

On 8 July 2016, Southampton confirmed that they had signed Klarer on a professional contract from Rapid Wien.[4] Klarer started for the club's U18 squad. In April 2019, he signed a new contract until the summer 2021.[5]

On 7 January 2020, Klarer joined Austrian club SKN St. Pölten on loan for the 2019–20 season.[6] In February, he made his debut in the match against Admira Wacker Mödling.

Fortuna Düsseldorf

On 5 October 2020, Klarer moved into German football with Fortuna Düsseldorf, newly relegated from the Bundesliga, on a contract until 30 June 2024.[7]

Darmstadt 98

On 18 July 2023, Klarer signed a four-year contract with newly promoted Bundesliga club Darmstadt 98.[8] Darmstadt were relegated again after one season.

Birmingham City

On 20 July 2024, a year after joining Darmstadt 98, Klarer returned to English football on a three-year contract with EFL League One club Birmingham City.[9] He was an unused substitute for the opening match of the league season, and made an "extremely comfortable" debut in the starting eleven for the next fixture, a 1–0 away to Charlton Athletic on 13 August.[10] His performances in Birmingham's 2024–25 promotion season earned him a place in the PFA League One Team of the Year. The club earned triple-digit points and Klarer was one of their seven members to be selected.[11]

Career statistics

As of 13 December 2025
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Southampton U21 2017–18[12] ————0000
2018–19[13] ————1[c]010
2019–20[14] ————2[c]020
Total ————3030
Southampton 2019–20[14] Premier League 000000——00
St. Pölten (loan) 2019–20[15] Austrian Bundesliga 13010———140
Fortuna Düsseldorf 2020–21[15] 2. Bundesliga 13010———140
2021–22[15] 2. Bundesliga 31320———333
2022–23[15] 2. Bundesliga 30230———332
Total 74560———805
Darmstadt 2023–24[15] Bundesliga 30210———312
Birmingham City 2024–25[16] League One 4313020—6[c]1542
2025–26 Championship 43 3 2 0 1 0 — — 46 3
Total 64 3 3 0 3 0 — 6 1 100 5
Career total 1811011030009120411
  1. ↑ Includes Austrian Cup, DFB-Pokal, FA Cup
  2. ↑ Includes EFL Cup
  3. 1 2 3 Appearances in EFL Trophy


Honours

Birmingham City

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "EFL Professional Retain List 2025/26". efl.com. 15 June 2026. Retrieved 4 July 2026.
  2. ↑ "CHRISTOPH KLARER" (in German). Fortuna Düsseldorf. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  3. ↑ "KLARER Christoph". hagmayr-sport.com. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  4. ↑ We're pleased to announce Christoph Klarer and Aaron O'Driscoll have signed professional contracts with , twitter.com, 8 July 2016
  5. ↑ "Klarer extends contract until 2021". Southampton F.C. 9 April 2019. Archived from the original on 21 June 2019.
  6. ↑ "Klarer joins SKN St Pölten". Southampton F.C. 7 January 2020. Archived from the original on 27 February 2020.
  7. ↑ "Klarer leaves for Fortuna Düsseldorf". Southampton F.C. 5 October 2020. Archived from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  8. ↑ "Klarer wird eine Lilie" [Klaler becomes a Lily] (in German). Darmstadt 98. 18 July 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  9. ↑ "Birmingham sign defender Klarer for undisclosed fee". BBC Sport. 20 July 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
  10. ↑ Dicken, Alex (3 August 2024). "Birmingham City player ratings after Brandon Khela's belter downs Charlton". Birmingham Live. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
  11. 1 2 "PFA League One Team of the Year 2025". The Professional Footballers Association. 19 August 2025. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  12. ↑ "Games played by Christoph Klarer in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 February 2025.
  13. ↑ "Games played by Christoph Klarer in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 February 2025.
  14. 1 2 "Games played by Christoph Klarer in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 February 2025.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 "C. Klarer: Summary". Soccerway. HeimSpiel Medien. Retrieved 11 February 2025.
  16. ↑ "Games played by Christoph Klarer in 2024/2025". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 May 2025.
  17. ↑ "Birmingham win League One title after Wrexham draw". BBC Sport. 12 April 2025. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
    "Section Six: EFL Regulations". Handbook: 2024/25 EFL Regulations (PDF). English Football League. 2024. 38.2 p. 301. Retrieved 14 April 2025. To be eligible to receive a Championship, League One or Two winners medal, a player must have been named on the team sheet in at least 25% of the Club's league fixtures in that season.
    "Birmingham City FC: Squad: Statistics: 2024/2025". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  18. ↑ Long, Dan (13 April 2025). "Birmingham City 0–2 Peterborough United: Harley Mills scores stunning free-kick as Posh become first team ever to retain Vertu Trophy". Sky Sports. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  19. ↑ Ashton, Ben (27 April 2025). "Burnley's Parker and Blades' Hamer win EFL awards". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
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