Lukas signs deal to stay at St Andrew’s until 2020

BIRMINGHAM City have completed the £1million signing of Burnley striker Lukas Jutkiewicz.

The 27-year-old has impressed after joining Blues on loan in August with six goals in 20 matches and has now penned a contract until 2020 with the club.

The deal will officially go through when the transfer window opens at the end of the month – but, just as they did with Michael Morrison a couple of years ago, Blues have moved early to secure a player who has fitted into their squad extremely well. Jutkiewicz’s loan move to St Andrew’s has provided a real fillip to his career and he has established himself as a real handful in attack.

He is particularly dominant in the air with all six of his goals being headers, including a late winner over Sheffield Wednesday and equaliser at Huddersfield.

Clayton Donaldson’s calf injury, which has put him out of action for around a month, increased the need to get the transfer done.

New boss Gianfranco Zola admitted he was keen to sign the Clarets forward before his potential return to Turf Moor on January 2.

“Yes, we are interested,” he said after the Brighton game.

“Lukas is doing very well. “He scored a great goal today but also his performance was magnificent.

“Lukas is an important player for us. We will try everything we can to keep him with us if we can. He was really outstanding today and we’ll try our best.”

Blues director Panos Pavlakis tweeted his reaction to the news, hailing it as a ‘good start’ ahead of what is expected to be a hectic January for the club.

Blues decided to sack manager Gary Rowett and replace him with Zola last Wednesday.