Birmingham City are ready to close a deal for Sporting Gijon winger Michel.

The Mirror says Birmingham are in talks to finalise the move as Alex McLeish seeks to make it second time lucky in his pursuit of the Spaniard.

Birmingham could not agree the terms of payment for the 24-year-old when they first tried to sign him during the summer.

But that won't be a problem now that McLeish has the financial backing of new owner Carson Yeung who has given him up to £40m to spend on new players next month.