McLeish digs in and is rewarded with McFadden and Murphy

Birmingham, as is the norm, were fighting hard over every last penny of both deals when McLeish heard whispers that his two main targets had attracted the attention of others.

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And he encouraged co-owners David Sullivan and the Gold brothers to act. McLeish paid tribute to the directors after Murphy's £1.5m capture from Hibernian was announced. McFadden was in Birmingham on Thursday night discussing the terms of his move from Everton. The fee for the Scotland forward is believed to be £4.75m, rising to £5.75m.

Although there were reports suggesting that a second club had entered the race and there was a hitch over terms, Birmingham were confident that the deal could be ironed out in time for McFadden to have his medical and be registered for Saturday's game against Chelsea.

McLeish was reluctant to speak about McFadden but he will become the second costliest signing in Birmingham's history after Emile Heskey, who was bought for £6.25m from Liverpool four years ago.

The Birmingham manager would only say: 'He's one of these — it's a Glasgow word we use 'gallus', a person who is unfazed by challenges put in front of him, who fancies his chances, has the bottle and mentality.'

'And the thing about James McFadden is that he definitely has the technique as well.'

McLeish is also hoping that Gary Cahill will consider following in Liam Ridgewell's footsteps and consider a £4m switch from Villa Park.

Argentina Under 20 striker Mauro Zarate is also in McLeish's sights. A loan fee of around £1m would be paid to his club, Al-Sadd.