Championship - Birmingham break bank for Benitez

Eurosport - Thu, 04 Jun 10:28:00 2009

Birmingham have beaten off competition from some of Europe's top clubs to sign Ecuador striker Christian Benitez from Mexican side Santos Laguna.

FOOTBALL 2006 Ecuador Christian Benitez - 0

The Blues confirmed a club record transfer fee had been agreed for the 23-year-old, who will travel to England for a medical next week having completed personal terms.

Although the fee was undisclosed it is set to surpass the £6.25 million paid for Emile Heskey in 2004 and is rumoured to be in the region of £9 million.

Benitez - son of the Ecuador's all-time leading goalscorers, Ermen - starred in the 2006 World Cup in Germany and has scored 31 goals in 58 games in Mexico's Primera Division over the last two campaigns.

He recently underwent surgery on a shoulder injury and is unlikely to be involved when Ecuador play World Cup qualifiers against Peru (June 7) and Argentina (June 10).

The club are confident of acquiring a work permit for the striker as he has played in 86 per cent of Ecuador's competitive A grade games over the last two years - well above the required amount.

PA Sport

Comment 1 - 9 of 9

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  1. Watch out guys Barry Ferguson and Alan McGregor are on­ there way too

    From Stuart, on Fri 5 Jun 2:54PM

  2. Gotta be an improvement on what we have already....and­ much better than that donkey Heskey..

    Benitez alonside­ Phillips......Lovererly !!!

    From Tilton, on Thu 4 Jun 11:06AM

  3. i dont know about anyone else but i'm sure for­ years i have heard blues fans jabbering on about how­ the club never spends any more on players! Now i read­ people complaining! i always thought the vile were the­ fickle ones! Me personally am pleased to see the club­ splash the cash on a player who, from all reports i­ have read, seems to be an exciting prospect! Blues i­ hope this is a statement of ambition from the club!­ Good luck blues with more potential quality players!­
    Forever a true blue nose! KRO!

    From f.russell1, on Thu 4 Jun 8:27AM

  4. Birmingham City Football Club are only interested in­ the performance of BCFC so please don't come here­ with your chat about local players and all this reh teh­ teh cuh at the end of the day if those local players­ are not going to get Brum to the level they aim to be­ at then it is irelevant to them. This is professional­ football not FA football development. Prolonged stay­ in the Prem equates to more money in the bank and money­ in pro sports is the objective. When will people get­ this in their heads?

    From GullyGang, on Wed 3 Jun 10:42PM

  5. To t.wenman1
    are you saying Latchford was better than­ TF ?,go further back and Vowden was a prolific­ scorer,but the point you make is true about a boring­ side last year hardly a good advert for flowing­ football.As for the other comments.. local talent ?­ more talent at the back of Rackhams,sorry them days­ have long gone ever since the poisoned chalice that is­ sky tv came on the scene

    From 21st Century schizoid man, on Wed 3 Jun 4:24PM

  6. Give the club a break! We are now in one of the­ world's stronger leagues and as they have the­ opportunity/funds to buy a promising player, I for one­ am glad they've done just that. Last season was­ successful but tedious because of our lack of goals and­ thrills. I hope he's the new Latchford.

    From t.wenman1, on Wed 3 Jun 2:34PM

  7. Joseph....don't know if you have noticed but very­ few clubs in the top two divisions have a majorIty of­ ..local signings' ....take a look when you get the­ chance !

    From sid s, on Wed 3 Jun 1:52PM

  8. Do blues have a Youth policy?!

    If he really is good,­ they'll sell him in 12 months anyway to make a few­ quid.

    From Steve, on Wed 3 Jun 1:03PM
  9. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Well done Birmingham! Another local signing to help the­ English game on the world stage. This is exactly why we­ never achieve anythinbg on the world stage. Does the­ Birmingham youth programme not have anyone worthy of­ consideration? It is all a joke.

    From Joseph Public, on Wed 3 Jun 12:44PM
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