Martin Jiranek turned down top German club in favour of Birmingham City
Schalke were certainly major players on deadline day: they signed Klaas-Jan Huntelaar from AC Milan, midfielder Jose Manuel Jurado from Atletico Madrid and snared an alternative centre-back in Nicolas Plestan, from Lille.
Jiranek moved from Reggina in Italy to Russia for €4.7 million and played in Euro 2004 and World Cup 2006.
Although he has been drafted in as back-up to Scott Dann and Roger Johnson, that pair will know his pedigree is such that he could probably slot into the team immediately.
And judging from the 31-year-old’s demeanour, he doesn’t intend to be a spectator sitting around twiddling his thumbs at St Andrew’s.
“Am I suited to the Premier League? I’m sure I’ve got enough quality and skills to play in the Premier League, but you cannot answer that question until you try. I will try and answer you properly on the pitch.”
Jiranek added: “We didn’t speak so much but what Mr McLeish said to me was that the team was like a family and what had been achieved was because everybody was fighting for everybody.
“It’s not just a club where you can come and be on the side – you should fight and you should be together with the boys and I’m sure that in the future Mr McLeish will talk more about the football side and the technical side, but in general he said Birmingham are a club where you should work on the training session and on the pitch as well.
“In every team you should work hard and for me it’s an absolutely common situation where there is big competition for a place on the pitch and always the team should consist of the players who are always trying to work hard.
“It’s the price you need to pay for success. Even Barcelona, who play nice football and please the fans, also work hard. I always work hard.”
Jiranek, who cost a nominal fee, said he hadn’t thought too far into the future.
“Would I like to stay longer than my year contract? We need to wait one year and see what happens. I’m quite happy with everything right now but I’ll only be able to answer properly in one year.”
