Paladini hopeful of Blues deal

Gianni Paladini is hopeful the consortium he is fronting will complete the purchase of Birmingham City before the end of the month.

The Italian-based group have made two bids to Birmingham International Holdings Limited - the parent company of the Championship club.

Although their last bid of ?30million - lodged two weeks ago - was rejected, talks have continued and Paladini is confident of gaining control.

"We want to get a deal done very soon," former QPR chairman Paladini told the Birmingham Mail.

"I am hopeful that we can get something agreed within the next 10 days. We have spent a lot of money trying to get this completed and are looking through the books. We are keen to get it all sorted by the end of next week."

Paladini also confirmed that they were looking to keep current manager Lee Clark and give him funds to bolster the squad in January.

"I still believe Birmingham can get into the play-offs and our intention is to sign four or five players in January to help the manager strengthen the squad," he said.