Birmingham City have signed Brighton midfielder Marc Leonard for an undisclosed price, bringing their eighth summer acquisition under new manager Chris Davies.
The 22-year-old Scot began his professional career with Heart of Midlothian and has spent the previous two seasons on loan with Northampton Town.
He has signed a four-year contract, subject to approval from the EFL and FA.
“I felt like the time was right,” Leonard told BluesTV.
“And I knew Blues was the team I wanted to play for, so I pushed hard for the transaction to go through.
“Based on where I am in my career and where Birmingham are trying to get to, I just felt like the ambition of this club really matched my own.”
The American-owned Blues, who brought nearly 20,000 fans to St Andrew’s on Tuesday night to watch them defeat Rangers 2-1 in a pre-season friendly known as the Trevor Francis Memorial Match, have sent pulses racing in the Midlands with their summer expenditure.
Although there is still suspicion that highly-rated Wales Under-21 international Jordan James may go, having been connected with both Atalanta and Fiorentina earlier this summer, the Blues have now signed eight players.
Leonard joins fellow midfielder Willum Willumsson from Dutch side Go Ahead Eagles and Austrian centre-back Christoph Klarer from German Bundesliga 2 side Darmstadt, who also signed for seven-figure amounts.
The Blues reportedly paid a seven-figure sum for Hearts fullback Alex Cochrane, as well as undisclosed fees for winger Emil Hansson and Charlton Athletic forward Alfie May.
To compensate for the loss of experienced John Ruddy to Newcastle United, they have signed two goalkeepers: Ryan Allsop from Hull City and Bailey Peacock-Farrell from Burnley.
