Birmingham City are understood to be preparing a £5million bid to prise Turkey international hitman Tuncay Sanli away from Middlesbrough.

Boro manager Gareth Southgate admitted recently that he is resigned to losing the 27-year-old following the club's relegation to the Championship at the end of last season.

Tuncay, who arrived at the Riverside in a £6million deal from Fenerbahce in 2007, has been linked with a move back to his fromer club, while Aston Villa, Chelsea and Liverpool have also shown some interest in the player during the summer.

However, The Daily Mail is reporting that Blues boss Alex McLeish is now in pole position to land Tuncay as he looks to bolster his attacking options at St Andrews and is said to be willing to match his £65,000-a-week wage demands.

McLeish recently stated that his summer transfer business was over after spending close to £20million bringing now fewer than ten new faces to the club, but that has now changed with Grandtop International Holdings set to complete their takeover of the Blues.

Having witnessed his side fail to score from open play in three Premier outings so far, McLeish is believd to be keen to partner Tuncay up front with record signing Christian Benitez, who arrived from Mexican side Santos Laguna in the summer.