Coventry City have signed Stern John from Premiership side Birmingham City for a fee believed to be around ?250,000.
The Trinidad and Tobago international striker put pen to paper on a three-year deal on Tuesday and was expected to go straight into the Sky Blues side for last night's (Wednesday) Championship clash with Gillingham.The 27-year-old scored 20 goals in 78 appearances for the Blues, having joined the St Andrews club in February 2002 after three seasons at Nottingham Forest.
John played a crucial role in Birmingham?s promotion push, scoring the winner in the play-off semi-final against Millwall which took Steve Bruce?s team to Cardiff.
First team chances have been limited since the Blues have established themselves as a Premiership force, and the arrival of Emile Heskey and Dwight Yorke further restricted his opportunities.
Peter Reid is delighted to finally get his man after missing out on defender Malkay Mackay last week and then vying with Nottingham Forest for John?s signature.
The City boss believes John has all the qualities needed to help the Sky Blues achieve their promotion dream.
?He is a quality player at a higher level than this so it is a really good scoop by the club to sign him," he said.
?I have known about him for a few years and I am just delighted that he is at the club and I am sure he will do a fantastic job for us.
?I am sure he will give the players a real lift and hopefully the supporters and club as a whole as well, because I feel he will give us real quality up front where we have got a lot of competition.
"So it is a massive boost for us.?
And John returned the compliment, revealing he joined Coventry because of Reid.
He said: ?He has been there and done it at this level and I know what a great manager he is.
?He is bringing in new players to make the team stronger and I want to be a part of that.
"I was tempted to go back to Forest but I prefer to come to Coventry who are a club who look like they are going places.?
Reid is keen to bring in more players as he attempts to build a side capable of pushing for promotion, and the City manager is once again being strongly linked with a move for West Bromwich Albion's mammoth centre-half Darren Moore.
