Derbyshire joins Birmingham on loan

LONDON (AFP) – English striker Matt Derbyshire has joined Birmingham City on a season-long loan from Olympiakos, the Premier League club announced on their website on Monday.

“The 24-year-old frontman has signed up for the season with the possibility that the deal could be made permanent at the end of the 2010-11 campaign,” read a statement on the Birmingham website.

Derbyshire began his professional career with hometown club Blackburn Rovers before joining Olympiakos on loan in January 2009.

The former England Under-21 international signed a four-year contract with the Greek giants later that year, having scored a crucial late equaliser in Olympiakos’s Greek Cup triumph over AEK Athens in the 2008-09 season.

Birmingham began their Premier League campaign with a 2-2 draw at Sunderland on Saturday and face Derbyshire’s former employers Blackburn in their next league outing.