Alen Halilovic has passed a medical with Birmingham City as he closes in on a move to the Championship side.

The attacking midfielder is a free agent having mutually agreed to terminate his contract with Italian giants AC Milan last month, and reports emerged last night suggesting that he could be moving to Blues.

They have accelerated this morning, with BBC WM journalist Richard Wilford confirming on Twitter that a deal is at an advanced stage.

"Alen Halilovic has passed his medical at #bcfc and terms have been agreed for the 24-year old Croatian."

That would indicate an announcement could be imminent, and it would be an exciting addition for Aitor Karanka when you consider the pedigree the left-footer has.

Having come through the ranks at Dinamo Zagreb, Halilovic secured a high-profile transfer to Barcelona, where he was tipped to become the new Lionel Messi.

Whilst that didn't go to plan, he has still played in top leagues in Europe, with spells at Hamburg, AC Milan and most recently Heerenveen in the Dutch Eredivisie.

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The verdict

Creating chances and scoring goals has been Birmingham's major issue this season, as netting nine in 12 games, many from set-pieces, just isn't good enough.

So, it's clear they need a new spark in the final third and Halilovic will provide that.

Whilst his career hasn't reached the amazing heights many expected, he is still young and a huge talent. He has the ability to offer something different to this Blues XI and it's exciting for the fans that this deal seems very close.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.