According to Bulgarian source Top Sport, troubled Birmingham City are showing “a serious interest” in former Bulgarian international stopper Nikolay Mihaylov.
With City being under a transfer embargo, and facing the distinct possibility of a 12-point deduction for FFP irregularities, news of a possible inbound player could lift the spirits of some of their fans.
The FFP sanctions, for failing to stay within profit and sustainability guidelines, mean that signing players becomes somewhat difficult for club. However, Mihaylov’s transfer would be one on a free, the former 33-cap international having been without a club since the turn of July this year having left Cypriot side Omonia Nicosia.
His major experience has come in Holland’s top-tier division, the Eredivisie, where he featured in 88 games for FC Twente Enschede (129 in total), conceding 92 times and keeping 32 clean sheets. He’s also featured 13 Champions League games (seven qualifying/six actual) as well as 20 Europa League games.
The 30-year-old also has 33 international games for Bulgaria under his belt, the last of these coming in June 2017 in a 2-1 World Cup qualifying loss to Belarus. In the previous game Mihaylov kept a clean sheet in a 2-0 win against Holland.
Mihaylov was said to be angling for a deal with Levski Sofia, although that seemingly a deal never reached. With the Blues looking at what might become a hard slog of a season, a move for the experienced Mihaylov might bring a degree of comfort in what look like hard times ahead.
Bringing him to St Andrews would also be a return to English football, the Sofia-born stopper having actually signed for Liverpool as a 19-year-old back in 2007 – a side he never represented.
