Blues made bid for Bellamy

Birmingham have revealed they tried to take Craig Bellamy from under Blackburn’s noses last night.

City had a £5m (€7.3m) bid accepted by Newcastle, according to their official website, and tried to persuade the Welsh striker – who turned down a move to St Andrews in January – to choose the midlands instead of Lancashire.

“Birmingham City can confirm they had an offer of £5m (€7.3m) accepted by Newcastle for striker Craig Bellamy,” said a statement on www.bcfc.com.

Relations between Birmingham and Blackburn are somewhat volatile after Steve Bruce’s assistant Mark Bowen moved to Ewood Park and Rovers returned in January to take fellow Welshman Robbie Savage.