Fabrizio Miccoli will remain with Palermo after rejecting the chance to join Birmingham City.
Striker shuns Blues interest for European football
Fabrizio Miccoli has confirmed he will remain with Palermo after rejecting the chance to join Birmingham City.
The former Juventus and Fiorentina striker was interesting Blues this summer, but he has opted to remain in Serie A.
Miccoli remained quiet until now as he evaluated his options and has now confirmed he is looking forward to European football with Palermo.
"I've not spoken about my future before because I wanted to weigh up the best options for my family," he told the club's
official website.
"Looking into president Maurizio Zamparini's eyes convinced me to stay. I'm happy. I'm captain of this team.
"I worked hard to help us secure European qualification and now I want to play in it.
"Somebody had likened me to past Palermo players who left the club at the first better offer and this upset me because I am not like them and, today, I believe I have demonstrated that."
Miccoli was happy with Birmingham's willingness to bring him to the Premier League, thanking them for their offer despite being injured.
"I would like to thank Birmingham for the offer because to receive an offer like this, despite having just had an operation on torn cruciate knee ligaments, was unexpected," he continued.
"This is the biggest decision of my career. My head was telling me to accept the offer, but my heart was telling me not to. I followed my heart."
