Birmingham boss Alex McLeish has abandoned plans to sign Manchester City striker Georgios Samaras.

McLeish had agreed a £2.5million fee with Sven-Goran Eriksson's side for the Greek international who has had only limited opportunities this season.

But McLeish has decided to concentrate on trying to strengthen other areas of his team after signing James McFadden from Everton and Mauro Zarate on loan from Al Sadd.

He remains interested in signing Aston Villa centre-back Gary Cahill although an initial bid was rejected by Villa manager Martin O'Neill.