Birmingham have completed the signing of goalkeeper Ben Foster from Manchester United. The England international has agreed a three-year contract and although Blues have not disclosed the fee, it is reported to be around €7 million.
Manager Alex McLeish was looking to strengthen his goalkeeping department having had Joe Hart, selected in Fabio Capello's England squad for the World Cup, on loan from Manchester City this season.
However, with that arrangement unlikely to be repeated in the coming campaign the Birmingham boss has moved to find a replacement.
He made just nine Barclays Premier League starts and his last first-team appearance came on February 23rd against West Ham.
However, McLeish hopes Foster can resurrect his career with a fresh start.
Foster, 27, found opportunities limited at Old Trafford and fell down the pecking order behind Edwin van der Sar and Tomasz Kuszczak after a number of unconvincing displays.
But, McLeish admitted Foster presented a better option than up to a dozen foreign goalkeepers, who he admitted were "a risk".
"It looks as if we've got another great acquisition with Ben Foster," said McLeish. "The goalkeeper is a massive position and we've now signed another young hungry goalkeeper who wants to prove himself and live up to his potential.
"We believe he is of the same kind of standard as Joe Hart.
"Ben's situation is similar to Joe's in that he found himself twiddling his thumbs behind another top keeper in Van der Saar.
"Goalkeepers can go on forever so that one was a losing battle for Ben.
"Ben is ambitious and wants to play regular football and naturally doesn't want to play second fiddle."
McLeish said Birmingham's goalkeeping coach Dave Watson had highlighted Foster as a good replacement for Hart some time ago.
"We were looking at it even when Joe was here in the event that we wouldn't be caught short and to steal a march on other potential suitors," the manager told bcfc.com.
"There were another 10 or 12 foreign goalkeepers we looked at but didn't know enough about then and we didn't want to take a risk.
"But Dave Watson is a guy I trust and have given responsibility to and he did his homework on Ben.
"He knows everything about him, although ultimately it's my decision to choose the players and the goalkeeper.
"With due diligence we've done together we know that he's a very capable player.
"We think he can make a name for himself and it's up to him to do what Big Joe did."
