Birmingham City Football Club

• Nickname:Blues
• Founded:1875
• Manager:Lee Clark

• Ground:St Andrew's
• Capacity:30016

Blues agree Schmitz loan

07 Jul 2007 - 09:40:06

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Birmingham City have agreed a season-long loan deal for Lille defender Rafael Schmitz, but may have to wait to tie up the transfer.

The 26-year-old Brazilian has just been granted dual French nationality, but the Blues will have to wait for his passport to arrive before being able to complete the deal.

City boss Steve Bruce said of his prospective new signing: "Rafael's got good experience, he's been at Lille for a while.

"We saw Lille play in the league against Paris St Germain and Auxerre and Rafael impressed both times.

"He's left-sided and he's played in the Champions League so he knows what it's about. I'm sure he will do very, very well for us."

Centre-half Schmitz has been with Lille for six years, helping the club establish themselves as a major force in French football.