Birmingham have signed former England striker Chris Sutton from Celtic after apparently making an unsuccessful attempt to sign his old Parkhead team-mate Henrik Larsson from Barcelona last week.

Sutton has joined the struggling Blues until the end of the season after being granted a free transfer by Celtic.

The 32-year-old, who cost Blackburn a then British record £5million in 1994, had played a key part in Celtic's success under Martin O'Neill after joining them from Chelsea five-and-a-half years ago.

Due to his versatility, some of his 199 Celtic appearances came in defence and midfield but he scored 86 goals for the club and Birmingham will hope his firepower can lift them away from relegation trouble.

Sutton will now be eligible to make his debut for Blues in Saturday's FA Cup tie at Torquay providing international clearance is received by 12 noon tomorrow.

Sutton insisted this evening that he had "no choice" but to leave Celtic, thanking O'Neill for "five great years" in Glasgow.

In a statement released tonight, Sutton said: "I had five great years at Celtic under Martin O'Neill.

"I would like to thank the players and staff at Celtic for making me and my family so welcome.

"I would also like to thank the Celtic fans for their tremendous support.

"It has been very disappointing for me to leave Celtic but, under the circumstances, I felt that I had been left with no choice.

"I'm looking forward to playing for Birmingham City. Steve Bruce and Karren Brady could not have done any more to make me feel welcome and I'm looking forward to getting started for Birmingham City."

Celtic boss Gordon Strachan expressed his disappointment at losing Sutton.  He told the club's website: "It is obviously a huge disappointment to lose a player of Chris' quality.

"The club has granted Chris his wish to move on and I would like to wish him all the best for the future."

City chairman David Gold hopes Sutton's arrival will not mean Blues striker Walter Pandiani leaves the club to join Espanyol, who have made a bid for his services.

"I'm hoping we can keep hold of Pandiani," said Gold. "I think we need everybody as we speak. I don't think we can afford to let anybody go during this very difficult period for Birmingham City.

"I'm very, very, very hopeful of persuading Walter to stay at least until the end of the season," he told Sky Sports News.

Nemanja Vidic is ready to join up with his Manchester United team-mates after having his work permit granted.

United agreed a £7million deal with Spartak Moscow for the 24-year-old Serbia and Montenegro defender on Christmas Day but had to wait for clearance to rubber stamp the move.

Vidic, who has signed a four-and-a-half-year contract, arrived in England last night but, because of a lack of match practice since the Russian season ended in November, he is unlikely to feature in this weekend's cup encounter with Burton.

Manchester City have completed the signing of Espanyol winger Albert Riera for the rest of the season.

The Spaniard could make his debut in Saturday's FA Cup tie at home to Scunthorpe subject to international clearance.

Manager Stuart Pearce admitted he had been watching the player for some time.  "We tracked him when he was at Bordeaux and last summer he moved to Espanyol," Pearce told the club's website, mcfc.co.uk.

"We saw the opportunity when things hadn't worked out there to bring him here and he's on loan until the summer. If things work out well for him here we might well keep him on beyond that."

Fulham have signed goalkeeper Tony Warner on a permanent deal from Cardiff and hope to sign defender Jose Fonte on loan from Benfica, with the Portuguese 22-year-old reportedly undergoing a medical at Craven Cottage.

The former Liverpool reserve stopper has signed a two-and-a-half-year deal which will keep him at the club until summer 2008 with Fulham paying Cardiff an undisclosed fee.

Coleman has also taken steps to plug his leaky defence with Fonte set to join in a sixth-month loan spell from Benfica.

A deal has yet to be finalised for the 22-year-old, who joined Benfica from Vitoria Setubal last month, but the Portuguese club expect terms to be agreed later today.

"Fonte is in London where he is currently undergoing a medical with Fulham," Benfica press officer Carlos Garcia said.

"We have yet to finalise the deal with Fulham which will see the player join them for six months. The agreement should be concluded later this afternoon."

Meanwhile, Fulham have been waiting on international clearance before they can conclude the transfer of New Zealand midfielder Simon Elliott from Columbus Crew.

PA