'It's just business' - Former Everton and Norwich star consigned to losing £1.3m star to Birmingham City

Birmingham City are poised to make their fifth signing of the summer after agreeing a deal to sign Hearts defender Alex Cochrane.

According to various reports, including the BBC, Cochrane is 'on the verge' of a move to St Andrew's. A bid of around £1.3m along with add-ons has been accepted and Cochrane is expected to finalise his move to the Midlands in the coming days.

Cochrane's club manager Steven Naismith who played for Everton and Norwich City during his playing days confirmed a move was in the pipeline. He claimed 'it was just business' as he consigned himself to losing the player.

Speaking to our friends at the Edinburgh Evening News, Hearts' head coach said: "The club have accepted a bid and that is something that will probably move quite quickly in the next three, four days.

"For us as a club it’s an example of finding a talent, who is a good player but also has a drive to go as high as he can and maximise what he can do and over the last three or four years he has worked really hard at that.

"He has got a year left on his contract and it’s a good deal for the club, one that Alex wants to take and everybody comes out of it well in terms of, we have progressed a player, we’ve made a profit on him and he is moving to a club that is a big club and one he wants to be at.

"It’s just the business side of football, that is the way it’s got to be. Under certain circumstances you need to weigh up what the benefit is to the club. You need to identify players to bring to the club and sell them on and that is a good business model. Something the club have not done well enough over the years."

The 24-year-old is a left-back and will provide competition for Lee Buchnan for the starting spot in Chris Davies' team. He is also capable of playing at centre-back as well as defensive midfield.

Cochrane played 40 times in all competitions for Hearts last season and created six goals. He has experience of playing in the Europa League for Hearts, and also had brief playing stints with Brighton & Hove Albion as well as Union Saint-Gilloise.