Michel will be last Birmingham City signing - McLeish

Aug 19 2009 By Andy Walker

“I would think so because we pushed the boat out for this (the Michel deal),” said McLeish, when asked if that would be the last of his pre-season transfer kitty.

“When you consider, I think we spent about £10 million on fees, although maybe we’ve not paid all the fees yet. Scott Dann, Roger Johnson, loan fees for (Joe) Hart, (Christian) Benitez and also a fee for Barry Ferguson.

“And when you add wages to that, from the free signings and the Bosmans, with (Stephen) Carr and Lee Bowyer; Cameron Jerome on a new, improved deal - then our spending is quite significant.

“Although it is all relative to what we are going to face in the Premier League because we are still behind most of the teams, on the quality and financial side.”

On the subject of Michel, Big Eck added: “I don’t know what the dialogue is, this is the time where I let the board do their job. I don’t get involved in that until such time where I say we’ve got a deal or we’ve not got a deal.

“So they were prepared to do some kind of deal with Gijon, despite the fact that we have already gone over budgets. I appreciate the board doing this but it’s not done yet.”

Even if Michel does boost McLeish’s numbers, he still won’t be completely satisfied with his squad as a centre-half and another wide man are still required.

A loan move for Arsenal’s left-back Armand Traore, who can also play on the left wing, still remains a possibility if Arsene Wenger allows him to go, a decision that the Frenchman will make at the end of the month.