Former National striker Dwight Yorke signed a one-year deal with Birmingham City for ?250,000 on Tuesday.
The 32-year-old former Manchester United striker will be joining T&T?s international striker Stern John at St Andrew?s after turning down an offer from Scottish giants Celtic and is now looking ahead to a new future with the ?Blues? in the English Premiership.According to the official Birmingham site, ?The deal was completed with just minutes to spare before last night?s midnight transfer deadline and came despite stiff competition from a number of other clubs, including Scottish giants, Celtic.
Yorke, a former T&T international said: ?I?m relishing the opportunity to continue my Premiership career with a progressive club like Birmingham City. ?I greatly admire what Steve Bruce has achieved in his time at Birmingham and I believe it is a club which is going places and I very much look forward to being part of it.?
John was delighted on hearing the news of Yorke?s signing.
He said: ?This is great to hear that Dwighty will be coming to St Andrew?s. He?s a quality striker and he has seen it all. I am sure he can bring something to the table at Birmingham City and I am happy that he?s been able to get a deal sorted out,? said John, currently in Trinidad preparing with the national team for back to back World Cup qualifiers against St Kitts/Nevis and Mexico.
Birmingham boss Bruce immediately called for fans to go easy on Yorke and not make a snap judgment on the signing.
?Dwight?s turned down a giant of a club in Celtic to come to us. He wanted to stay in the Premier League and he wanted to join us. You have to respect that. Villa is in the past and his background was of no concern to him when making his decision. He made it clear he was very keen to play for Birmingham. I?m delighted we?ve got someone of his terrific ability. It?s not often a European Cup winner becomes available and I am sure he will add something to what we?ve got?and be a hit with the fans,? said Bruce.
Yorke is a natural goalscorer with a wealth of Premiership experience. He began his career at Villa Park as an untried teenager in 1989, before making the big time in 1998 when he joined Manchester United in a ?12m deal.
During his time at Old Trafford he formed a lethal attacking partnership with Andy Cole, which saw United win the treble in 1999. After four successful years at United, he made the short move to Blackburn, where he remained until making the switch to St Andrew?s last night.
Rovers boss Graeme Souness told Sky Sports News: ?As I understand it, Celtic did agree a fee with us for Dwight and he was given permission to talk to them.
Now Birmingham has come along and offered the same money. He fancies Birmingham as he still has friends around following his time at Aston Villa. I liked him as a man, but I thought I should have got more from him. I would only wish him well for the future.?
Meantime, a Celtic statement added: ?We made a fantastic offer but the lure of the Premiership was too much and Dwight has chosen to go to Birmingham City for football reasons.?
