The Blues have splashed out £2.25m for Fulham striker, Geoff
Horsfield, who has signed a five-year deal.
The former brickie, aged 26, only turned professional again at
24 having played briefly for Scarborough as a teenager, and becomes
Blues' record signing after the persistence of Trevor Francis
paid off.
After having bids of around £2m rejected, he returned to Craven
Cottage with an improved offer and Horsfield, for one, couldn't
be happier: "My only aim is to play Premiership football and I
think I've got a great chance of doing that with Birmingham,"
he said. "I think what they've been missing is an out-and-out
centre-forward. They had lots of problems with forwards and injuries
and that is why they lost it in the end last season."
Horsfield, who scored 32 in 74 appearances for the club after
being signed by Kevin Keegan, told the official website: "I've
scored a few in the Second Division, and got a good run of goals
at the start of last season but then suffered a niggly calf injury
and a couple of bad ankle injuries. "I kept getting pushed into
the side when I wasn't 100% fit and didn't really do myself justice."