Blues linked to Andre Ayew move

Birmingham have been linked with a £5.5m swoop for Marseille's World Cup winger Andre Ayew.

The 20-year-old Ghana international, who played four matches in this summer's tournament, has only played 13 games for the French club since making his debut for in 2007, but it was enough to attract a reported £5million bid from Arsenal.

But Ayew has had plenty of experience on loan, having made 22 appearances for Lorient in 2008/09, before 25 games and four goals for Arles Avignon last term.

Back at St Andrew's, centre-back Dan Preston has become the latest academy product to sign a professional contract with Blues.

The 18-year-old, who had a spell on loan with League Two side Hereford last season, has signed a one-year deal to join Luke Rowe, Jamie Dunphy and Luke Hubbins.

Blues, who returned for pre-season training at Wast Hills yesterday, also intend to replace physio Tim Williamson imminently and have already recruited head of sports science Nick Davies.

Williamson has returned to former club Celtic for family reasons.

Manager Alex McLeish said: "We fully understand Tim's decision to return to Celtic and thank him for his services.

"I'd also thank Neil Lennon and Celtic for the way they've handled this and for giving me as much notice as possible.

"Tim has family north of the border that he can now spend more time with and that's great. We wish him well.

"We also welcome Nick to the club and look forward to working with him."