Mido signing close

After a few hiccups and false starts it now seems that Spurs striker Mido will be the next arrival at Birmingham City.

The Egyptian international broke the story himself after a lot of speculation as to whether he would be joining the club or not.

The 24-year old has had something of a chequered career so far, working his way through a number of big name clubs.

After a very successful loan period at Spurs he seemed to go off the boil after his permanent signing, so maybe Steve Bruce is showing some wisdom by taking this rather mercurial player on a loan in the first instance.

Mido clearly has the physical presence and goal scoring ability to make it at the highest level but there have sometimes been issues with attitude and temperament.

However, Steve Bruce has shown in the past that he is able to handle players of this type after successes with the likes of Dugarry, Savage and Pennant. The fans will be hoping that he can work his magic again.

A permanent transfer, said to be in the region of £5m will be dependent on Birmingham surviving in the Premiership second time around. If they have the likes of Mido to call on though, success could be more likely.

Blues are certainly in need of a target man and a pairing of Mido and O'Connor is an appetising prospect.

Another possible line-up (given his showing so far in the pre-season friendlies) would be the combination of Forssell and this likely new arrival.

It also seems increasingly likely that fellow Egyptian Hossam Ghaly will be joining the Birmingham City squad before the first game of the season.

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