consultants, like Steve McManaman or Christian Karembeu, they can come up with names and if they can enhance the club then absolutely, no problem.”

“I’d look forward to meeting Steve, I’d be happy to sit down and have a chat with him and see if he’s got anything to offer in terms of the players,” McLeish added.

 “I don’t know how much he has been out of touch, whether he’s kept in touch with a lot of his Spanish contacts, because Spain is a good market. 

“Steve is a fine bloke and he’s got a lot of experience in the game so why not use it? Listen, 99 per cent of the time I might say: ‘don’t fancy it Steve’, but we could all do with another one per cent or two, couldn’t we?”

Yu, Blues vice-chairman football, stressed that the former players were not being considered as potential successors to McLeish.

On Karembeu, he confirmed: “He will be participating in the youth development, or in the international development scheme. An ambassador. Similar to Steve McManaman.

“Like Steve, Chris is my good friend. With such reputations and credibility they have got, they can help us launch ourselves to where we want to be.”