Blues add Hleb and Jiranek

Blues complete swoop for attacking midfielder and centre-half

By James Riach   Last updated: 31st August 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

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Birmingham City have bolstered their squad with deadline-day deals for midfielder Alexander Hleb and defender Martin Jiranek.

Former Arsenal attacker Hleb, 29, has moved to St Andrews on a season-long loan from Spanish giants Barcelona, having spent the last year in Germany with Stuttgart.

The Belarus international made 89 Premier League appearances for the Gunners during a three-year spell in North London, and commanded a fee of €17million (£13.9m) when he switched to Barca in 2008.

Meanwhile, central defender Jiranek leaves his post as Spartak Moscow captain to join the Blues for an undisclosed fee.

The experienced 31-year-old Czech Republic international has penned a one-year contract as manager Alex McLeish adds to a defence that is already regarded as one of the tightest in the top-flight.

McLeish was delighted to complete moves for both Hleb and Jiranek, as the Carson Yeung era at Birmingham rolls on with these latest signings.

He told the club's official website: "Hleb is a top quality player - one who at one stage we'd only actually dreamed about really.

"Over the past year or so we have talked about him but with no real belief we could get him. We decided to give it a try and towards the end of the window we found out it might be possible.

Major coup

"This is a major signing for us and we are very happy to have him here. He is an extremely creative type who is skilful, a great dribbler and has an excellent touch and quick feet.

"He has huge international experience and a great pedigree due to playing for clubs such as Stuttgart, Arsenal and Barcelona."

On Jiranek, McLeish added: "We are short at the back with regards to defensive cover.

"Jiranek has tremendous experience on club, European and international fronts. He is a good presence and his arrival will keep Roger Johnson and Scott Dann on their toes."

The arrivals take Birmingham's summer signings to six in total, as McLeish has already added Nikola Zigic, Ben Foster, Enric Valles and Matt Derbyshire to his squad.

City are also expected to complete a deal for Chilean star Jean Beausejour before the close of the window.

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Comments (3)

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Mikey Fawcett (Arsenal fan) says...

This is a great deal for Birmingham and I''m personally very glad he turned down Spurs. You have here a player in his prime, hungry and with something to prove, great feet and is not at all selfish. I just wish Arsenal had already played Birmingham now.

Posted 11:21 1st September 2010

Kazeem Klaas (Tottenham Hotspur fan) says...

Interesting buyings by The blues i must say!

Posted 16:54 31st August 2010

Sunny Gill (Arsenal fan) says...

Even though he turned his back on Arsenal for Barcelona, his talent is still undeniable. At his time at Arsenal, i would have classed him in the top 4 players we had. A very clever buy and a bargain, surprised that there were no bids from the bigger clubs.

Posted 16:51 31st August 2010
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