Birmingham City FC have signed Serbian international striker Nikola Žigić from Valencia CF on a four-year contract.

The 2.02m forward joins the English Premier League team for an undisclosed fee believed to be in the region of €7m. He had struggled to hold down a starting place at the Mestalla where he made just 28 Liga appearances in three seasons. Žigić did catch the eye, however, on loan at Real Racing Club last term, scoring 13 Liga goals in 18 games.

The 29-year-old began his career at FK Crvena Zvezda and was Serbia's player of the year in 2003, 2005 and 2006. He moved to Racing in 2006, then on to Valencia for €20m the following summer. He is expected to be named in his country's FIFA World Cup squad having struck 16 goals in 42 national-team outings. Birmingham finished ninth in the Premier League.