Nikola Zigic's agent claims Manchester City and Aston Villa were interested in his client prior to signing for Birmingham City.
Blues concluded the signing of the Serbia international ace on Wednesday on a four-year contract in an estimated £6million deal.
The signing represented something of a coup for Birmingham, who were on the lookout for reinforcements following Christian Benitez's exit.
Zigic's agent Milan Calasan now claims that both City and Villa were interested in pipping Blues to the 29-year-old hit-man.
However, City's plans were too long-term for Zigic's needs while Villa were unable to progress fully with manager Martin O'Neill away on holiday.
Meeting
"In Switzerland we met with a representative of Manchester City. We wanted to hear his plans before we met with Birmingham," he told the Birmingham Mail.
"They introduced into the game the eventual sale of (Emmanuel) Adebayor so it was immediately clear that everything was long term, so it was no surprise we automatically withdrew from everything.
"Then we were contacted by Aston Villa on the day Nikola had already arrived in Birmingham.
"They begged us to wait a while. Without Martin O'Neill, no decision can be taken and he is on holiday.
"In that case, there was nothing more logical than to finish a job with the club where all the doors were open (Birmingham).
"We had a great welcome from Birmingham. Alex McLeish (Birmingham) spent an hour chatting in the hotel to Nikola."
Speculation
Meanwhile, City striker Emmanuel Adebayor's agent says he has not had any contact with AC Milan after being linked with the Italian giants.
"AC Milan's interest? I know nothing about that," Stephane Courbis told Calciomercato.it.
"I have not spoken with Milan or even with Manchester City.
"Emmanuel unhappy at the City? I have nothing to say about that."
