Birmingham City have signed Ecuador striker Christian Benitez from Mexican side Santos Laguna.
The newly-promoted Blues have confirmed a club record fee has been agreed for the 23-year-old, who will travel to England for a medical next week having already agreed personal terms.
Although the fee is undisclosed it is set to surpass the £6.25m paid for Emile Heskey in 2004 with the Midlands side beating off competition from several top European clubs to secure the striker.
WORK PERMIT
Benitez - son of the Ecuador's all-time leading goalscorer, Ermen - starred in the 2006 World Cup in Germany and has scored 31 goals in 58 matches 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 (7th June) and Argentina (10th June).
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 matches over the last two years - well above the required amount.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment