Birmingham boss Alex McLeish has admitted that, as reported, he did try to sign towering Jan Koller for his recently relegated Blues.
The Czech Republic hitman opted to make the £40,000-a-week switch from Nuremberg to Russian outfit Krylya Sovetov Samara instead, the wages proving too rich for McLeish’s Championship outfit.
Thus, former Scotland and Rangers boss McLeish has still only added veteran Lee Carsley from Everton to his squad, whilst losing several of the bigger Brummie earners.
Still, the resolute gaffer told the Birmingham Mail: ?The search for players continues.
?We want to bring in players who really enhance the team. That?s why you?ve not seen any apart from Lee Carsley up to now.
?We did try for Jan Koller, we showed our ambition and intention there. But he chose a massive offer in Russia which we couldn?t compete with.
?There are some other players as well we?re interested in.
?At this time of year, you find that not that much tends to happen. Things really get moving a few weeks down the line.?
Big Fella
The Scot revealed that he swooped for the giant Czech forward before Euro 2008 and admitted that the fact that the Blues can’t lure an ageing star shows how tricky it is to succeed in the current market.
He continued: ?There was no doubt we would never have got Koller five, six years ago. We would never have attempted to.
?It?s only now that he?s in the twilight part of his career that a club like ours, where we are at the moment, could offer him something.
?We actually made the approach before the European Championship. They wanted to wait until it was over and, to be fair to the big fella, he had a half-decent tournament.
?Koller maybe would have allowed us to get up the pitch and support, and caused a lot of trouble with his size and physique.?
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