DAVID Dunn's on-off move to Birmingham looks likely to be completed today.
Blackburn Rovers have agreed an undisclosed fee - believed to be £5.5m - for Great Harwood-born Dunn and the 23-year-old agreed personal terms at City on Wednesday. He was set to undergo a medical yesterday to seal the switch.
Middlesbrough and Everton have also shown a late interest in the former England Under-21 captain but Blues boss Steve Bruce got his man after a six week pursuit. "He is a special player - the type that will excite the Birmingham fans," said Bruce. "He has great passing ability and has been my number one target. I rate him highly."
Chairman David Gold hailed it as "one of the mose exciting in the history of Birmingham City" after the Blues smashed their club record.
Dunn has two years left on his contract at Ewood Park but is believed to have been unhappy since his fall-out with manager Graeme Souness last season. The Scot said Dunn had "taken his eye off the ball," and he was in and out of the team.
The new deal is a four-year contract, believed to be worth around £20,000 a week.
Dunn will be missed in the area as he is a regular at Great Harwood Cricket Club, where he used to play, and also at Accrington Stanley FC.
The midfielder grew up in Great Harwood and has always said he owes a great debt to his grandad, David, who used to take him to watch Rovers, standing on the Blackburn End, when he was growing up.
He came through the youth set-up at Ewood before making his debut in 1998. But Dunn really burst onto the scene when Rovers returned to the Premiership. He made his debut for England in 2002 in a friendly against Portugal and was on stand-by for the World Cup in Japan and Korea.
Dunn made 169 appearances in all competitions for Rovers and scored 38 goals.
There will be friendly faces at St Andrews as Ewood old boys Jeff Kenna and Damien Johnson are there.
