Rangers striker Kris Boyd is due to undergo a medical today ahead of his proposed £3.8 million move to Birmingham City.
Boyd, who is the second highest goalscorer in Scottish Premier League history, travelled to the West Midlands last night to undergo negotiations with Birmingham officials, including manager Alex McLeish, and his agent Mark Donaghy.
If all goes well Boyd will be reunited with the manager who initially took him to Ibrox from Kilmarnock for £400,000 in January 2006 and the man who handed him his international debut with Scotland.
A five-year contract is believed to be on the table and it has been suggested that the 25-year-old would almost double his salary at Rangers with a £20,000-a-week pay packet.
The imminent arrival of Boyd, who has vowed to never play for Scotland again while they remain managed by George Burley following a lack of opportunities for the national team, is sure to give McLeish’s team a timely boost before Saturday’s match in the Championship at Blackpool.
Boyd, being the SPL’s top scorer with 20 goals from 21 outings and having rattled home an incredible 133 goals in 181 starts in Scottish football, will join an already lethal stock of strikers at St Andrew’s.
Meanwhile, as McLeish’s fourth signing of the January transfer window edges close to completion, a fifth arrival is also on the horizon.
The West Ham United midfielder Lee Bowyer was pictured at Birmingham’s Wast Hills training ground yesterday and is in talks about a loan move from Upton Park, which could spell the end of his fellow Hammer Nigel Quashie’s time in the West Midlands.
The 32-year-old ex-England international has started only four Premier League games for West Ham this season and does not appear to be in the long-term plans of the manager Gianfranco Zola.
The arrival of Bowyer, a somewhat controversial character given his chequered past, may stir emotions among Blues’ supporters – the last time the former Newcastle United player was set to join Birmingham under Steve Bruce in 2005 a section of fans set up an internet petition in protest.
London-born Bowyer, who has also played for Leeds United and Chartlon Athletic, has been on McLeish’s radar since November and will add to a midfield that has already been boosted by the recent arrivals of Keith Fahey, Robin Shroot and Scott Sinclair.
Fahey, meanwhile, will also miss next Tuesday’s rescheduled FA Cup third-round tie with Wolverhampton Wanderers at St Andrew’s.
The Irish midfielder will be suspended for the match against Blackpool due a one-match ban that will be carried over from his final days with St Patrick’s Athletic.
However, the Football Association have also informed Birmingham that Fahey is unavailable for Tuesday’s tie as his international clearance was not received by the FA Cup competition deadline of noon last Friday.
The ex-Aston Villa trainee will have to wait to be in contention for the fixture with Cardiff City on January 17.
