Phil Neumann was born on Tuesday 8 July 1997 in Herten, Germany, a town just west of Dortmund that is around 50 miles from the border with the Netherlands. His footballing career began with local side DJK SpVgg Herten, but he would quickly be spotted by a much more established academy.

Aged just seven, the defender made the move to FC Schalke 04, with die Königsblauen's VELTINS-Arena just a 20 minute drive away from his home town. Having progressed through their youth system, he would play a big part in Schalke Under-19s' Bundesliga title win in 2015.

The next year, Neumann received his first call up to Germany Under-19s in a win against the USA, with ex-Blues loanee Auston Trusty featuring for the opposition. Progression to Under-20s followed, and he went on to help die Mannschaft win the 2018 Under-20 Elite Series, beating Keith Downing's England Under-20s on the way.

Finding opportunities in Schalke's first team hard to come by, Neumann left for FC Ingolstadt, who had just been relegated to the 2. Bundesliga. His professional debut came soon after as he lined up on the right side of defence in the season opener against Union Berlin.

A move to fellow 2. Bundesliga side Holstein Kiel followed just two seasons later, and the young defender quickly found his feet in Northern Germany. Becoming a regular in die Störche's backline, Neumann helped his side on a memorable DFB Pokal run to the semi-finals, where they were eventually beaten by Jude Bellingham's Borussia Dortmund.

That same season, Holstein Kiel came just one game away from being promoted to the Bundesliga, and despite Neumann helping them win the first leg in the promotion play-off games against 1.FC. Koln, they were defeated in the second by a score of 5-1.

In the 2021/22 season, Die Störche could not quite hit the heights they did in the previous campaign, and Neumann moved on in the summer. Hannover 96 secured the services of the talented defender and have steadily improved in the German second tier ever since.

The six-foot-three-inch figure cemented himself as die Roten's go-to option in central defence, and they most recently finished sixth in 2. Bundesliga.

On Friday 17 January, Neumann was announced as having signed a pre-contract agreement with Birmingham City that will see him finish the season with Hannover before linking up with Chris Davies' First Team in the summer.