Chelsea boss Claudio Ranieri intends to send striker Mikael Forssell to Birmingham on an extended loan.
Ranieri, who has adopted a similar policy with Carlton Cole by sending him to Charlton on loan, has an abundance of strikers after signing Hernan Crespo and Adrian Mutu.
He believes the promising Finland international striker will be better served obtaining regular first team experience with Birmingham, rather than remaining on the bench at Stamford Bridge.
Forssell has previously enjoyed successful loan spells at Crystal Palace and Borussia Moenchengladbach, where he recovered from a serious injury last season.
The emerging striker, who is a regular in his national side, had been hoping to secure a regular first team place at Chelsea on his return to England.
However, that was before the multi-million pound investment by Roman Abramovich.
Although Forssell did start Chelsea's opening competitive fixture away to MSK Zilina in the Champions League qualifying round, Mutu and Crespo soon arrived to relegate him to being fifth-choice striker.
Ranieri clearly believes that Forssell, just like Cole, has considerable promise and did not want to lose him entirely.
The move to Birmingham will mean increasing competition for Republic of Ireland international Clinton Morrison.
Morrison has recently returned to competitive action with Birmingham following a shoulder injury and will be hoping for as much first team action as possible ahead of Ireland's crucial Euro 2004 qualifier against Russia in Lansdowne Road on September the 6th.