Birmingham boss Alex McLeish has not given up hope of landing Real Betis midfielder Achille Emana in the next transfer window.

A late loan move for Emana, a player McLeish had previously caught sight of during his time at Toulouse, fell through on Tuesday.

"It was a tough one to do. It was put to me very late," said McLeish. "He went to Real Betis for big money, and they want big money for him now. They wanted to sell him."

He added: "We had a stab at getting him on loan because we felt Betis would not want to go through D-Day without getting him off the wages.

"It was an ambitious effort and I thank the board for trying to go for it. We didn't quite do it, however."

McLeish may look at resurrecting the deal in January, maybe on a permanent basis, although much will depend on City's position in the Barclays Premier League at that stage.

"Possibly further down the line, you never know," added McLeish in the Evening Mail when asked whether it was a transfer to consider in the future.

"We will see what develops over the course of this season.

"Hopefully, the lads will continue to show the belief they have in the opening games, then there's no reason why we can't look to invest in players like Emana."