Diego Fabbrini has ended his loan at Middlesbrough to sign permanently for Birmingham City in a £1.5m deal.
The Italian leaves Premier League side Watford to join Gary Rowett's side on a three-and-a-half year contract after falling out of favour at Vicarage Road.
The versatile attacking midfielder, who played a handful of games for the Blues on loan last season, had his move fast-tracked after Boro announced the signing of Gaston Ramirez yesterday.
Rowett said prior to the announcement: “A player of that quality is the type of player we are trying to bring in.
“But as we know you have always got to tie that into one or two other clubs trying to do their own business or wait for the right time to do it.
“Certainly we are working incredibly hard to bring players in of that ilk because we think that's what we need to become even better,” Rowett said of Fabbrini, who has scored six goals in 26 appearances for Middlesbrough this campaign.
Fabbrini becomes the Blues most expensive signing in five years, when they paid out £3.5m to arch rivals Aston Villa for Curtis Davies.