Heskey seals Blues move

The England striker has just been included in Sven Goran Eriksson's squad for Euro 2004 this summer, but will now go to Portugal as a Birmingham player.

Blues boss Steve Bruce has been chasing Heskey for a number of weeks and sees him as a key addition to his improving Blues squad.

"This is an absolutely fantastic signing for the club," Bruce told the club website.

"He is still only 26 years old, has 40 England caps to his name and will be representing his country at Euro 2004.

"To pull off a signing like this is quite remarkable and I am really excited to add Emile to the squad for next season.

"Hopefully, he will be the first of several high-profile signings that we will be making this summer."

Reds boss Gerard Houllier has finally decided that he can do without the much-maligned former Leicester marksman, with the impending arrival of French hot-shot Djibril Cisse from Auxerre in the summer.

Houllier shelled out a club record £11 million for Heskey when he brought him from Leicester in February 2000, but he has continually come in for criticism for his lack of goals.

Michael Owen has been one of his main fans and has always said he loves playing up front with the big man.

Heskey will now be joining Mikael Forssell at St Andrews, while Bruce is also looking to add Muzzy Izzet and Jesper Gronkjaer to his squad.