Kenny Cunningham signed for Birmingham and immediately backed manager Steve Bruce's assessment of the club's No.1 target Clinton Morrison.
The 31- year- old Wimbledon defender completed his move to St Andrew's for a nominal fee, having agreed a four-year contract with the Premiership new boys.
And Cunningham, who spent six weeks watching Morrison on World Cup duty with the Republic of Ireland, reinforced his boss's views on the man City have put at the top of their summer wanted list.
'Clinton is an outstanding player,' he said. 'He is definitely one of the best young strikers outside the Premiership. Steve Bruce doesn't need me to tell him that, though. He has seen enough of him to form his own opinion.
'I've played against him a few times and he has scored against me - and he got a great deal of satisfaction out of reminding me of that when we were away together.'
Although Morrison remains Bruce's first-choice, Poland international Emmanuel Olisadebe is expected to arrive for talks in the next 24 hours to discuss a £3.3million transfer from Panathinaikos.
Juan Pablo Angel's chances of securing a move from Aston Villa appear to be fading fast after manager Graham Taylor indicated the Colombian was in line for a starting spot in the InterToto Cup against FC Zurich on Sunday. Any appearance by the striker would render him ineligible for other European competitions, casting further serious doubts on whether anyone is prepared to match Villa's £12m asking price.
Middlesbrough are confident Juninho will agree to join them for a third time by tomorrow. They want to take the 29-year- old Brazilian World Cup winner to their Austrian training camp this weekend.
