Bellamy's Tyneside time is ended with £6m deal

Bellamy, who travelled to the West Midlands last night, will discuss personal terms later today while his former United team-mates take on Coventry in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Birmingham initially tried to sign Bellamy on loan yesterday morning but, when Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd turned that approach down, Blues boss Steve Bruce offered a permanent end to the 25-year-old's St James' Park exile.

Bellamy is expected to put pen to paper at St Andrew's on Monday morning - just hours before the transfer window swings shut.

"There were never going to be any winners in this situation," said Shepherd. "But this looks like being the best possible solution for all concerned."

Bruce has been looking to bolster his forward line since on-loan striker Mikael Forssell broke his leg at the start of the season.

The Blues have scored just 27 goals in 24 Premiership games this season, and Bellamy's pace will add another dimension to an attack that has relied on Emile Heskey's physical presence for much of the campaign.

"We have agreed a fee with Newcastle and we've got permission to speak to the player," confirmed Bruce.

"We will be having talks with him over the weekend and we hope we can convince him to come to Birmingham City.

"He's a quality player, quality players don't become available very often and that's why we've made the offer that we have to Newcastle.

"My board have backed me ever since I came here and they've done it again."

While Newcastle officials had conceded that they were running out of time in which to engineer Bellamy a move away from Tyneside, they always remained hopeful that a deal could be brokered this weekend.

Souness ruled out any chance of the striker returning to the Newcastle first team yesterday when he confirmed that he had played his final game for the club.

After the Wales international brandished his manager a "liar" earlier in the week, Souness insisted that he could not forgive Bellamy even if he had issued a public apology for his actions.

"I don't think he can ever play for this club again as long as I'm the manager," confirmed Souness, who has used his programme notes for today's game to clarify exactly what went on last weekend.

"He cannot call me what he called me on television. There's been no apology, but there's nothing he could do to make me change my mind about that.

"I've looked at myself, obviously you do, but there's nothing I could have done differently.

"The previous manager, and I don't want to get into a slanging match with him, said that I shouldn't have taken this to the chairman.

"But I felt that it was so serious that the chairman had to know about it. His brief to me was quite simple from day one - 'I don't need to know about everything that's going on, but when something important happens, I need to know'.

"I felt that this was more than just important. I can't ask for any more support from the chairman than I've had in the last seven days. He's given me everything I could have hoped for and expected."

Souness' comments effectively ended Bellamy's four-and-a-half-year spell at St James', and Birmingham's subsequent £6m bid merely ensured there would be no awkward stand-offs in the second half of the season.

The Blues are hoping that this week's events will have forced Bellamy to turn over a new leaf.

But, far from seeing what happened at Highbury as an isolated incident, Souness stressed that his most recent run-in with the striker was merely the latest in a long line of disputes.

The pair clashed at Charlton in October after Bellamy took offence to being substituted in a 1-1 draw and, from that moment onwards, Souness felt that another bust-up was only just around the corner.

"Craig Bellamy has been a disruptive influence from the minute I walked into this football club with his attitude to the coaching staff, to me and to his team-mates," blasted the Magpies boss.

"This isn't just about last weekend - this is a cumulative thing. It was always going to happen, whether it would be a month or six months.

"We all have to live by the rules - whatever job we're in. Footballers are no different. We all earn fantastic wages, but why should we in football be any different?

"The only thing that's important in all of this is that Newcastle United come out of this stronger and better. Where we are now, I think we are stronger and we're more ready for the challenge than we have been at any time that I've been at this club."

In dismissing Bellamy's petulance, Souness has proved that he will not tolerate players putting their own interests before the common good of the team.

The Scot's dismissive treatment of the striker stands in stark contrast to his handling of team-mate Andy O'Brien.

The Republic of Ireland international has been in and out of the side since Souness replaced Sir Bobby Robson in September and, with the recent arrival of Jean-Alain Boumsong having added further competition at centre-half, he was expected to leave for pastures new this month.

But, after a head-to-head meeting in which O'Brien stressed his willingness to fight for his place, the defender has signed a one-year extension to his current contract at St James' Park.

And, while Souness did not draw a direct comparison between O'Brien and Bellamy, he made it clear that the defender's professionalism was a lesson to any player feeling unhappy with their lot.

"Although we've signed a centre-half for a lot of money, Andy still fancies his chances here," said Souness. "He's up for the fight and that's what we want.

"He's saying to all the Newcastle supporters, 'I want to be here and I want to fight for my place. You watch me - I'm going to be in the team'.

"He's been a solid performer for this club in the last few years and, given his age, he's only going to get better.

"I'm absolutely delighted that Andy's signed his new contract because, if we're going to achieve anything at this club, it's going to be with people like Andy. I want a dressing room full of characters like that."