McLeish eagerly awaiting arrival of McFadden

Published on Thursday 17 January 2008 21:20

ALEX McLeish hopes to be formally reunited today with the man who lit up his tenure as Scotland manager after Birmingham City agreed a fee in the region of £5.5 million with Everton for the transfer of James McFadden.

The 24-year-old forward, whose goals for Scotland this season against Lithuania, France and Ukraine in the European Championship qualifying campaign played a key role in McLeish's managerial stock rising to earn him his much-cherished move to a job in the English Premier League, is expected to complete his move from Merseyside to the Midlands today.

McLeish was reluctant to discuss his imminent capture of McFadden last night as he waited for the player to agree personal terms with Birmingham and pass a medical, but he had made the talisman of the Tartan Army his priority signing of the January transfer window.

McFadden, who was also coveted by both Celtic and Rangers, proved out of the Old Firm's price range when Birmingham joined the pursuit of his signature. After having bids of 2.5 million and then 3 million turned down by Everton, they agreed an undisclosed fee with the Goodison Park club yesterday afternoon. It is believed the price could rise to 6 million, dependent on how many appearances McFadden makes for Birmingham.

"I don't like talking about deals before they have been completed and we are still awaiting the player to discuss personal terms and also to pass a medical," said McLeish.

"I am hoping we can pull out all the stops to get James McFadden, who is one of those players who is unfazed by the challenges put in front of him. He is what we call gallus in Glasgow, someone who fancies his chances and has the bottle and the right mentality. And he definitely has the right sort of technique as well."

In a season which has seen Sunderland pay Hearts 9 million for goalkeeper Craig Gordon and Rangers' right-back Alan Hutton turn down an 8 million move to Tottenham, McFadden's lucrative move is another example of the increased stature and value of Scottish players on the back of the international team's revival.

But despite his outstanding international record, which has seen him score 13 goals in 37 appearances for his country, McFadden has been unable to nail down a regular starting place in the English top flight.

Since joining Everton from Motherwell for 1.25 million in September 2003, McFadden has spent as much time on the substitutes' bench as he has on the pitch. He started 79 games for David Moyes' team and made another 60 appearances as a substitute. He contributed 18 goals, many of them typically sublime or spectacular efforts, but never reached the stage where he was regarded as a first-choice player for Moyes.

McFadden's time with Everton has also been affected by injury, but this season he has generally performed well whenever called upon, scoring five goals in 14 starting appearances.

If his move is completed in time, he will go straight into the Birmingham City squad for tomorrow's Premier League match against Chelsea at St Andrews along with left-back David Murphy, who has joined McLeish's team from Hibs for 1.5 million.

While McLeish has made a decent early impression at Birmingham since resigning as Scotland manager at the end of November, his team were knocked out of the FA Cup by League One strugglers Huddersfield Town and remain firmly involved in a battle to avoid relegation from the Premier League.

The former Motherwell, Hibs and Rangers manager clearly sees McFadden as the player who can inject fresh verve and invention into a team who proved they have plenty of grit and resilience when they drew 1-1 with title-chasing Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium last Saturday.

McFadden can expect to be a first-team fixture with Birmingham and his transfer will also be celebrated at Motherwell who, it is understood, can expect to receive a windfall in the region of 600,000 as a result of a sell-on clause negotiated when they sold the gifted forward to Everton.

&#149 Everton have signed a second shirt deal with Thailand-based Chang Beer which will be worth 8 million over three years.

Their current deal with the company runs out at the end of the current campaign, and chief executive Keith Wyness has been in the Far East this week to complete the deal.

The previous deal was worth around 4.5 million to Everton, and the new contract reflects Everton's involvement in European football and their growing improvement in the Barclays Premier League.

BURLEY KEEPS SAINTS FOCUS

GEORGE Burley insists he is fully-focused on his role at Southampton despite his imminent talks with the SFA over the vacant national coach's job.

Saints chairman Leon Crouch has reluctantly given Burley, 51, who signed a two-and-a-half year contract at St Mary's in December 2005, permission to speak to the SFA but the former Scotland defender stressed he is happy on the south coast.

"My aim is to take Saints back to the Premier League – and that is still my aim. Right now the only thing I am thinking of is Saturday's game at Plymouth and the second half of the season," he said. "I was flattered and honoured to be asked to speak to the SFA and it would be wrong not to do so."