Birmingham City boss Pep Clotet has admitted he was surprised that the club managed to bring in Ivan Sunjic during the summer as he praised the midfielder for his application.

Landing the Croatian international was seen as a massive coup for Blues, particularly as the ex-Dinamo Zagreb man had been linked with Italian giants AC Milan.

And, Clotet recognised that, telling Birmingham's official site that he was delighted that they managed to get the deal over the line.

"In the summer when we talked about Ivan, I thought it was a long shot but if we could get him, fantastic. It showed me how passionate the owners are to build the team, this Club, and to attract players like him.

"Ivan has come from a club that is used to playing at a high level, they have a fantastic football Academy in Zagreb. They produce these kind of players and I am so happy he chose Birmingham."

After getting off to a slightly slow start, Sunjic has started to shine in recent weeks, producing a man of the match display in the win over Middlesbrough last time out.

The verdict

Whilst you would always expect a manager to praise his player, you have to feel that this is genuine from Clotet and you can understand why.

Sunjic impressed with Croatia's U21 side in the summer and to bring him to a Championship side that have been poor over the years was obviously a surprise.

The midfielder has settled pretty well and he was particularly impressive against Boro so we are starting to see what the hype was all about.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.

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