Source: Team_Talk
Birmingham clinch £3m Michel deal
The two clubs had agreed a fee and the Blues had negotiated personal terms with the player last week, with the move being finalised after the 24-year-old passed his medical and penned a two-and-a-half-year deal.[LNB]Manager Alex McLeish told the club website: "Michel is in a great age group and has got good legs and a lovely touch on the ball as you would imagine from a Spanish player performing at La Liga level."[LNB]Michel becomes the St Andrew's club's first signing of the transfer window after making 138 appearances and scoring seven goals for Gijon since making his first-team debut during the 2005-06 season.[LNB]He was named as the Asturian outfit's player of the season during each of their last two campaigns.[LNB]Michel is unlikely to be McLeish's only acquisition during the current transfer window.[LNB]It is no secret the Blues boss has £20million-£40million to spend following Carson Yeung's takeover, with a host of big-name players already linked.[LNB]Reported moves for Kevin Kuranyi and Kenwyne Jones have hit the buffers due to the inflated cost of the packages involved, while the Blues were also linked with a move for Liverpool's Ryan Babel.[LNB]Regarding further new arrivals, McLeish insisted there was nothing imminent but that he "remains interested in one or two players".[LNB]But he also pointed to inflated prices at the start of January and bigger price tags on the continent as reasons why the market on the whole - and Birmingham's activity - has not yet reached fever pitch.[LNB]"If there's £20million to spend then I'm sure Carson means that but whether I spend that remains to be seen," he said.[LNB]"I would probably need to bring four or five players in to get through that money. I'm certainly not going to spend it on one player because I don't think we're ready for that step.[LNB]"There are a few clubs that are desperate for cash and we're aware of that as well.[LNB]"So prices can be inflated at the beginning of the month and they start to see sense towards the end of January."[LNB]McLeish added: "Some prices abroad are definitely inflated but the Premier League managers and clubs tend to know the market value for players.[LNB]"It's like buying a house - it's whoever is prepared to pay the money.[LNB]"But the Premier League is a tough place to buy players because when you're an established player prices tend to go up very rapidly."[LNB][LNB]
