Birmingham City signs Heskey for record fee

In the first major signing following the conclusion of the English domestic season, Premiership mid-table outfit Birmingham City have signed Liverpool's Emile Heskey for a club record £6.25 million.

The five-year deal, which secures the striker's services for the St Andrews side until 2009, has been described as a "massive coup" by manager Steve Bruce.

The 26-year-old is an England regular with 40 caps to his name – and was yesterday named in Sven-Goran Eriksson's squad for this summer's European Championship in Portugal.

Blues boss Steve Bruce said: "This is an absolutely fantastic signing for the club. To pull off a signing like this is quite remarkable and I am really excited to add Emile to the squad for next season."

Bruce said that the cheque book was still open and several more "high-profile" players could be arriving at the club during the summer.

Interviewed by Birmingham City's official website, Heskey said: "I think Birmingham is a progressive and ambitious club and very much going in the right direction… I am keen to play as an out-and-out striker, which I haven't done since my second season at Liverpool, and Steve has made it clear that is the role that he sees for me."

Despite being widely acknowledged as an outstanding attacking player, Heskey's strike rate has been disappointing. During his four-year Liverpool career, the striker only netted 60 times in 228 games. And his appearances for the national side have only marked by five goals – a total he will look to increase next month in Portugal.

Heskey came to prominence at Leicester City where he scored 46 times in 197 games, before moving on to Anfield in March 2000 for a fee of £11 million.

(gmcg)