Birmingham City have apologised to their fans for the delay in announcing the £2.7 million signing of Scotland striker Garry O'Connor.

The 24-year-old finally completed his move from Lokomotiv Moscow today, almost a week after the Russian club announced the sale. The paperwork for the transfer was completed this afternoon on a three-year deal with the option of two further years.

Birmingham insisted they were unable to officially announce what is their third summer signing until the move was rubber stamped for fear of "losing the player to another club at the 11th hour".

O'Connor yesterday expressed his excitement at joining Blues. "I'm delighted to be back in Britain, for my family, to be back and happy and enjoying my football again," he said. "It's a fantastic opportunity to play against the best players in the world. I'm going to take that with both hands now.

"It's the best move possible. My wife is buzzing. I'm just looking forward to us being a family again. I've missed my son growing up and want to enjoy the family."

O'Connor, who left Hibernian for Lokomotiv in March last year after scoring 58 goals for the club, joins Fabrice Muamba and Stuart Parnaby in moving to Birmingham this summer. There could be more signings on the way, with Bruce having already spoken with Celta Vigo winger Daniel de Ridder, while Juventus forward Olivier Kapo is on his hit list. A goalkeeper is also on Bruce's radar, with Hammarby's Ghana international Richard Kingson one of his targets.