£9m deal lands Mido and Ghaly for Bruce

The promoted club's decisionmakers stunned their own manager by smashing their transfer record as they captured Egypt striker Mido for £6m and his international stablemate for an additional £3m.

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Bruce had been led to believe he would land Mido on loan, with the promise of a permanent deal to follow. He was also unsure whether Ghaly would sign without his compatriot.

However, those fears were allayed when co-owner David Sullivan said both deals had been sanctioned, with Bruce hinting that the club chiefs had decided it was time to make a firm statement of intent.

"We started off negotiating a loan," said Bruce. "Then I was told we could buy Mido and Ghaly, too. It was a bit of a surprise.

"Our board have realised, as well as I have, that you must be competitive in this current market. So we've made a big investment and I'm absolutely delighted."

While Emile Heskey's transfer from Liverpool is listed officially as the club's top outlay, Birmingham did not hand over the full £6.25m to the Anfield club because of a relegation clause in the contract which took effect in May 2006 when Birmingham lost their Premiership status. This means the Mido deal is the club's costliest.

Bruce knows it is a big gamble on a talented but temperamental forward. But the manager, who tamed the likes of Jermaine Pennant and Christophe Dugarry, clearly believes he can do the same with his latest recruit.

"I know all about Mido. Taking him on doesn't scare me," added Bruce. "He's fiery, isn't he? And we all like that in a player, don't we?

"Ghaly's a bit of everything. He's big, strong and powerful. I saw them both in our pre-season game against Spurs last season and was really impressed."

The departure of Mido eases some of the pressure on striker Jermain Defoe at Spurs, where £16m Darren Bent has been added to a strikeforce that includes Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane.

Defoe has made it clear he has no intention of following Mido through the exit door. "If I was going to leave I'd have gone by now," he said as Spurs prepared to face Kaiser Chiefs today in the first game of their pre-season tour of South Africa.

"There has been competition for places for the past few years. There's so much quality in the dressing room that it keeps you on your toes."

Defoe is seen as a key man by Spurs manager Martin Jol, who said: "We've had four strikers over the past three years and have that again now Mido is going. I want two No 9s and two No 10s. You need four strikers."

Birmingham's double swoop will have been funded in part by the £2.1m sale of striker DJ Campbell to Leicester, the third St Andrew's man to move there this summer following Bruno N'Gotty and Stephen Clemence.

Campbell, a £500,000 signing 18 months ago, will be reunited with new Leicester boss Martin Allen, the one-time Brentford manager who first recruited him from non- League football.

Allen said: "I'm looking forward to working with him again. What I want to see most of all is that lovely grin of his. He has a gold tooth and I want the glare from that to blind me after he has scored a goal."