Alex McLeish is desperate for Birmingham City to land Everton attacker James McFadden.

McLeish is begging club chief David Sullivan to dip into his own pocket to sanction a £5.5million move for McFadden.

Everton have already turned down a £5m bid from Middlesbrough for McFadden, who scored four goals in qualifying for Euro 2008.

But the Daily Mirror reports that has not put off McLeish from trying to link up again with the striker, who has struggled to feature regularly at Goodison Park where Yakubu, Andy Johnson, Victor Anichebe and James Vaughan are vying for starts.