 Nafti played 10 games for Birmingham last year |
Birmingham City have secured the permanent signing of Racing Santander's Tunisian midfielder Mehdi Nafti. The 26-year-old impressed while on loan at St Andrews at the start of 2005 and has penned a three-year deal.
Nafti has been told he can report for pre-season training later than the rest of the squad after playing in the Confederations Cup in Germany.
The midfielder, who signed for an undisclosed fee, will link up with the rest of the his team-mates on 6 July.
Birmingham manager Steve Bruce had made clear his desire to keep Nafti back in April.
He said: "I have seen enough to realise that Nafti would be a valuable addition to the squad if circumstances allowed. "There are still some issues with his club, where he has another year left of his contract, and we will see how it goes.
"But he has fitted in very well at Birmingham and you saw against Chelsea just what he is capable of producing."
Nafti started his career with French side Toulouse before moving to Racing Santander in the 2000/01 season.
The Carthage Eagles player was born in Toulouse but helped Tunisia to success in last year's African Cup of Nations.
MMIX
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Great signing, he added something to a lethargic looking midfield in the last few months of last season