Birmingham boss Alex McLeish has confirmed that record signing Christian Benitez is yet to arrive in the country.
Record signing still not in country
Birmingham boss Alex McLeish has confirmed that record signing Christian Benitez is yet to arrive in the country.
McLeish has already stated that Benitez may struggle to be involved for the start of the new Premier League season.
Benitez signed for Birmingham in June from Mexican side Santos Laguna in deal worth over £7million.
But he is yet to even start training with the St Andrews outfit as he is yet to have his work permit finalised, although his visa is expected to come through this week.
"Benitez is not with us yet," McLeish told
Sky Sports News.
"We are still cutting through some red tape to get him the entry visa."
Fit
McLeish confirmed that Benitez's fellow countryman Giovanny Espinoza, who also signed for the club this summer, was now in training but he is also short of fitness.
"Espinoza is with us but he didn't come to Austria [for pre-season] with us as we had passport issues," he said.
"He is a little bit behind in fitness, as he played up to June and then took holidays.
"We have got to make sure that he and Benitez are fit before we can consider them."
McLeish insisted that he was more than happy with the signing of Benitez and Espinoza.
"He and Benitez have got a good pedigree," he continued.
"If David, Sullivan and Gold [Birmingham owners], want to give me extra players that is fine - I will take them, they both have great pedigrees."
