Birmingham City's new vice chairman ready to reveal size of McLeish's transfer fund
Oct 14 2009 by Andy Walker, Birmingham Post
Birmingham City’s new vice-chairman football, Sammy Yu, has revealed that Carson Yeung will publicly confirm Alex McLeish’s transfer kitty for the January transfer window tomorrow.
The new club owner is due to fly in from Hong Kong today before holding his official unveiling at St Andrew’s on Thursday.
Yu, one of Yeung’s key aides, has already held several meetings with McLeish over the last few days, during which the Birmingham manager pitched his list of potential transfer targets.
The Chinese regime has already promised to hand McLeish funds to strengthen his squad in January and Yu, a former manager of Hong Kong’s football team, has admitted that the exact figure will be revealed during tomorrow’s press conference.
“He (McLeish) definitely will (have money to spend in January),” said Yu, during a radio phone in on BRMB last night. “I have spent two days already with Alex and we are working on a list.
“We will try to have an understanding with each other regarding our plan for the rest of the season and Carson will come in on Thursday when we will have an in-depth meeting.
“We will work out a schedule, he (Yeung) will give money, of course, but how much? He will announce during Thursday’s press conference so Alex will definitely get good support for that (January spending).
“But I hope the fans realise that to be a successful club is not only about throwing money away, it’s about a plan.”
Regarding the calibre of players that the club are tracking, Yu insisted that they would be of a high standard to ensure Birmingham’s immediate Premier League status.
“We have got quite a few (players) in mind at the moment but I don’t think that this is the right time to disclose who they are. But I promise you that they are good players.
“Whatever money you spend, if you don’t spend on quality then it’s not right. Of course, at the same time you have to build a youth team or academy for the future but, in the meantime, our first priority is keeping the team in the Premiership. I hope this season we can work hard together like a family to keep this team in the Premiership.”
The new board have already moved quickly to begin their attempts to tempt disillusioned Birmingham fans back to St Andrew’s.
The club announced yesterday that ticket prices for the home game against Manchester City on Sunday November 1 will now start from £25 for adults, £12 for concessions and £7 for under-12s.
The recommendation was made by vice-president Mike Wiseman and rubber-stamped by the new regime.
Yu even hinted yesterday that the club were considering letting children in to games for free at some point in the future.
