Birmingham land Forssell

Birmingham have signed Mikael Forssell in a deal worth £3 million.

Birmingham City have signed Chelsea striker Mikael Forssell in a deal worth £3 million.

It is the third time in his career that the highly-rated Finn has signed for Blues, but on this occasion he will not be going back to the Premiership champions.

He first arrived at St Andrews in 2003 and bagged 17 goals, before sealing another season-long loan last summer - only to suffer a bad knee injury in September which saw him sidelined for over six months.

The 24-year-old has now returned to full fitness and Birmingham have won the race to sign him.

Everton had also been interested and held talks last week, but it is reported The Toffees were unconvinced by the player's overall fitness.

Forssell originally arrived in England in 1998 from HJK Helsinki, but he has had little chance to impress at Stamford Bridge as he has spent most of his time on loan.

He had spells with Crystal Palace (twice) and Borussia Monchengladbach before he joined Birmingham.