Official: Birmingham complete signing of Marlon King from Coventry CityStriker joins Alex McLeish's side from the Sky Blues on a Bosman, but the transfer leaves his former chairman 'fuming' after U-turn on new contract at the Ricoh Arena
Birmingham City have secured their second signing of the summer by bringing in Coventry City striker Marlon King on a three-year-deal.
The former Nottingham Forest man was available on a Bosman after deciding not to stay on at fellow Championship club.King has spent the last nine months with the Sky Blues and had a modestly successful tenure at the Ricoh Arena, scoring 13 goals in 29 matches and finished the season as the club’s top-scorer and player of the year.
However, the transfer has angered Coventry chairman Ken Dulieu after the club agreed a new contract with the 31-year-old and his advisor just last week, only to see the striker disregard the deal and join Alex McLeish’s side.
Dulieu told reporters: "We are fuming about this and feel we have been betrayed. We had reached agreement with Marlon and his advisor and verbally everything was settled and agreed, and now we find out that a deal has been done with Birmingham.
"The club and our supporters have fully backed Marlon on his return to the game and I think we deserve better than this.
“We have shown great faith in him, helped him rebuild his career and were delighted that he was due to continue playing for us. To hear that he has now changed his mind and gone back on what had been agreed is very hard to take.
"News of his decision to sign a new contract with us leaked out, and that is why we had to publicly confirm the verbal agreement. We would have preferred all the formalities to be completed but we had no choice. I really feel for supporters."
King himself alleges that his former club were slow in finalising his new contract and that allowed for the recently relegated side to move in and offer a contract to the experienced frontman, a version of events Coventry manager Andy Thorn has dismissed.
http://www.goal.com/en/news/11/transfer-zone/2011/06/10/2526427/official-birmingham-complete-signing-of-marlon-king-from
