Blues hope for Traore deal

McLeish has other options if Arsenal won't let full-back go

Last updated: 2nd August 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Blues hope for Traore deal

Traore: Birmingham interest

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Birmingham City boss Alex McLeish remains hopeful of signing Armand Traore on loan from Arsenal, but has alternative targets.

McLeish is eager to bring in a new left-back before the start of the season and has lined up a move for Traore, who spent last term on loan at Portsmouth.

He is awaiting a response from Arsenal regarding his offer and is unsure if Gunners boss Arsene Wenger will let the 19-year-old leave.

To that end, the Blues chief has lined up other options as he looks to continue his recruitment drive following the club's promotion back to the Premier League.

Quality

"I don't want to upset Arsene Wenger by speaking (about Traore)," said McLeish. "I also see he has got a couple of injuries himself, like Gael Clichy, so I hope that's not ominous.

"We've got other targets, but we want to bring in a bit of quality for the position.

"It's not a bottomless pit in terms of the money and we'd try to structure a deal on maybe a loan.

"I'm not talking necessarily about Traore, there's one or two options. It's better that I don't talk about other people's players at the moment.

"All that does is upset the Birmingham fans when we don't get them."

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