Ben Foster is expected to complete a €7 million move from Manchester United to Birmingham. A fee was agreed between the two clubs last week and Foster was expected this morning for a medical that will seal his Old Trafford exit.
Although he began last term with high hopes of ousting Edwin van der Sar from his status as United's first-choice keeper, Foster's chance disappeared with high-profile mistakes against Manchester City and Sunderland during a two-month period at the start of the campaign when the veteran Dutchman was missing through injury.
Despite these blunders, Foster was handed successive England starts, against Belarus and Brazil, leading to an expectation he would claim a place in Fabio Capello's World Cup squad.
Instead, Ferguson kept him on the sidelines for almost the entire remainder of the season, meaning the 27-year-old was not one of the men in Capello's provisional squad when he named it last week.
After five years at United, two of which were spent on loan at Watford, Foster had accepted there was no future for him at the club, especially as Sir Alex Ferguson persuaded Van der Sar to sign another year's contract extension.
As Birmingham needed a keeper once Joe Hart returned to Manchester City following his season-long loan, Blues boss Alex McLeish wasted no time in stepping in to make Foster his first signing of the summer.