McLeish relishing Zigic arrival
Zigic was part of Serbia’s squad in South Africa but will link up
with his new team-mates next Monday in time for City’s pre-season
tour of Hong Kong and China beginning on July 14. Blues boss Alex
McLeish has taken into account that Zigic did not feature regularly
for Valencia last season in deciding not to give the player a
lengthier summer holiday. McLeish, who splashed out £6million
on Zigic, said: “He certainly didn’t play as many games as the lads
in our squad last season when, for a long time, we fielded
virtually an unchanged team. “He should be fine and in any case
we’ve got to get him up to a level of fitness where he’s ready for
the Premier League.” McLeish, who has also signed goalkeeper Ben
Foster from Manchester United for £6million, added: “We will
be showing Nikola some of the footage from last season which should
give him a good insight into what he should expect. “The Premier
League is rough, tough and, while Nikola is a big lad, the Premier
League is hard in terms of aggression and that different style of
football.” McLeish is adopting his normal stance of not discussing
potential transfer targets but it is understood Marseille’s Ghana
winger Andre Ayew, who impressed during his country’s run to the
quarter-finals, is on his radar.