Birmingham City transfer latest: Why Kevin Kuranyi deal is unlikely

Dec 14 2009 by Colin Tattum, Birmingham Mail

BLUES have been eyeing up Kevin Kuranyi – but the total financial package for the Schalke 04 striker could put the skids under a January transfer.

The 27-year-old is out of contract in the summer and has expressed a desire to remain at the club.

But he has yet to be offered a new deal and Alex McLeish was said to have watched Kuranyi score in Schalke’s 2-0 win over Hertha Berlin a week last Sunday.

Schalke rate Kuranyi at £5 million and his salary demands would purportedly be a mind-boggling £130,000 a week.

It would be difficult to imagine Blues being prepared to pay such a wage and pay the former German international more than four times the current top St Andrew’s earner.

Kuranyi, who also scored in Saturday’s victory over Werder Bremen, said: “I don’t know where I will be playing next season, but I hope it is with Schalke.”

A talented and controversial figure, 6ft 3in Kuranyi was born in Brazil but qualifies for Germany because of his father.

He fell out with national coach Joachim Low in October 2008 after leaving a game against Russia at half-time. He was not selected and watched the first period from the stands and failed to return to the team hotel.

He has scored nine goals from 17 appearances this season for Schalke, who are second in the league.

McLeish admitted last week that he has had to scrub a couple of potential targets off his January wish list because the sheer size of transfer fees and wages required would “break the bank’’.

Wolfsburg’s Edin Dzeko was named as an example by McLeish, who said the striker also had bigger clubs than Blues in mind.