Birmingham manager Alex McLeish admits he faces tough competition to land AZ Alkmaar striker Moussa Dembele.
Blues boss McLeish is eager to add firepower to his squad for the Premier League campaign and has held talks with the 23-year-old.
But Midlands rivals West Brom have also joined the chase, and the Scot admits it was always going to be hard to push through a deal without gaining attention.
He said: “Dembele is top quality but I’m advertising him to everyone else by speaking about him.
“It’s difficult when someone has got options and he is a top player. The player maybe knows as well. Some perhaps have a little self doubt but the very top players don’t have that.
“To bring in those kind of guys, to attract those kind of players to Birmingham, obviously there’s a lot of money involved and, at times, big wage demands.
“But that’s the ambitions I have and I would like to try and attract quality to this football team, enhanced the quality factor in the team we already have.”