Birmingham City’s Nikola Zigic says he can adapt to the Premier League
Birmingham City’s new signing, Nikola Zigic, has spoken of his admiration for the Premier League, and added that he is capable of meeting the physical demands the league has. The Serbian International has spent four years in the Spanish La Liga, with Valencia and Racing Santander.
The 6ft 8 inch striker was being chased by a number of Premier League clubs after it looked like his time with Valencia was coming to an end, and he has chosen to sign with Birmingham City from Valencia, in a deal believed to be worth around six million Pounds.
Apart from the obvious height advantage Zigic has to offer, he is also a very technically gifted player who has 16 goals to his name for Serbia, in 48 appearances. After initial success in his home nation, Zigic has struggled to win any major honours with his clubs: the Copa del Rey success with Valencia in 2008 his only trophy to show for his four years in Spanish football.
The Serbian maintained that the Spanish league was also very physical; though not as fast as the English Premier League. Zigic also had nice words to say about his new team, which he described as playing good, attractive football, saying he enjoys passing football much more than a strategy that relies on long balls lumped up towards him.
Zigic also expressed his admiration for the Birmingham City coach, Alex McLeish, calling the former Rangers boss a perfect gentleman. Zigic has enjoyed a good working relation with managers throughout his career, and has been described as a model professional, and it appears he will have no trouble whatsoever in getting along with the man in charge at Birmingham.
The Serbian also denied reports which had linked him with a move to Birmingham’s bitter rivals, Aston Villa. Zigic claimed that he knew nothing at all about any interest from Villa, and the reports linking him with the club were unfounded.
Zigic has penned a four year deal at the club and will be looking to help Birmingham improve on a 9th place finish in the Premier League, following promotion from the Championship the previous season. Zigic will face competition for a place in the side from other forwards including Cameron Jerome, who had a very impressive season and was a major factor in Birmingham doing so well on their return to the Premier League.
Although due to the expensive nature of the transfer, and Zigic’s obvious qualities, he is likely to get a run in the first team from the start. The Serbian International will be hoping he gets off to a fast start, because the competitive nature of the Premier League can be very unforgiving; after high profile failures such as Andriy Shevchenko, Diego Forlan and Freddie Kanoute, it is never surprising to see a player who has excelled in other leagues fail to adapt to the league in England.
However, all the evidence points to this signing being a very good one for Birmingham, but nothing can be said for sure until the season starts in three weeks’ time.
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