Jaidi plans Blues future

Jaidi: Back in favour

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• Radhi Jaidi

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Raidi Jaidi hopes his long-term future lies at Birmingham, as a Premier League player.

The Tunisia international faced an uncertain outlook after the Blues slipped out of the top flight last season, with clubs in the Middle East keen to snatch him away from St Andrews.

Alex McLeish even began to search for a new defensive enforcer, with Celtic's Bobo Balde his prime target, before handing Jaidi a return to the first-team fold.

The towering centre-half has featured in the club's last three fixtures and is enjoying life in the Midlands once more.

Opportunity

"It was not really an opportunity for me in the summer," he told the Birmingham Mail.

"I still have a contract here and me and my family enjoy it in Birmingham as well. I wasn't thinking to leave.

"My target is to finish my career in England. There weren't any real offers, people tried to contact the club but it wasn't serious, nor was it anything that interested me.

"I believe I can play more years in England and our objective now at Birmingham is to get back to the Premiership.

Deserved

"That would make me happy as well because that's where I want to play and where I think this club should be.

"Birmingham City are a big club. We should not have got relegated and we should stay in the Premiership. We have to stop the ups and downs all of the time.

"The manager has the same idea and he is working for that. Hopefully we will continue as we have started in the Championship and then show that we deserve to remain in the Premiership."

Concentration

Birmingham currently occupy top spot in the second tier after an impressive start to the season, but Jaidi is wary of allowing complacency to set in.

"In this league it is all about concentration," he added.

"It is hard physically because you play a lot of games but we can cope and I hope we keep the same mentality and work ethic and then the rest of the season will be good for us."