Alex McLeish has confirmed an interest in Marc Janko, but will not move for strikers from Wolfsburg and Hoffenheim.
Wolfsburg and Hoffenheim pair likely to be out of Blues' reach
Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish has confirmed Austrian striker Marc Janko is a target as he plots his January moves in the transfer market.
New owner Carson Yeung has promised to give McLeish £40million to spend and a striker appears to be high on the club's agenda.
Red Bull Salzburg hit-man Janko, who has previously been linked with Bolton, Celtic and Fulham, is one player who is on McLeish's radar.
"Janko is on a real hot goalscoring streak," McLeish told the
Birmingham Mail. "He has a big presence.
"He's maybe not yet the same kind of level as Peter Crouch, he's trying to be that kind of player.
"These players like him are out there, but can we get them to come to the club? That's the question."
Hidden gems
Wolfsburg duo Edin Dzeko and Grafite, along with Hoffenheim pair Vedad Ibisevic and Chinedu Obasi, have also been mooted as targets for McLeish.
However, the Birmingham boss believes it may take a few seasons before the club are capable of attracting players of that calibre for the prices being quoted.
He added: "If we get to an Everton status in years to come then we could entice the Dzekos of this world.
"There are some hidden gems out there who won't cost lots of pennies, but you're probably looking at £15million for Dzeko, Grafite £10million. The Hoffenheim strikers would probably cost £10million plus as well."
Meanwhile, Blues vice-chairman Sammy Yu has confirmed a short-list of transfer targets for the New Year is close to being finalised.
Yu said: "We are almost there with our short-list. Some things we will start to do in the next week or two.
"Alex and myself will finalise the list and then we will get going. The areas where Alex wants to strengthen have been identified and we will be trying to bring in the kind of quality that is required."
