Birmingham City Football Club News

• Nickname:Blues
• Founded:1875
• Manager:Chris Hughton

• Ground:St Andrew's
• Capacity:30,016

McLeish targets Zarate deal

31 Mar 2008 - 09:09:37

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Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish is hoping to be able to broker a permanent deal for Blues loan star Mauro Zarate.

The 21-year-old Argentinian has scored three times in eight games since his January arrival from Qatari club Al Sadd, with his weekend double helping clinch a crucial 3-1 win over Manchester City.

McLeish told the club's official website: "I'm really delighted with Mauro. He was outstanding with his dribbling skills. He was superb entertainment.

"You pick up contacts in the game who can help to find you a player like Mauro. I had only seen him on video before I came here, when I was manager of Scotland.

"I watched the FIFA Under-20 tournament in which he scored the winning goal in the final and you could see that he was a fantastic young talent.

"He has got a great future ahead of him and hopefully, if we retain our Premier League status, we can talk to Mauro about staying on for another season."