Birmingham sign Brighton midfielder Leonard

Marc Leonard was a League One ever present last season for Northampton scoring five times in his 46 appearances

Birmingham City have signed Brighton midfielder Marc Leonard for an undisclosed fee to complete an eighth summer signing for new boss Chris Davies.

The 22-year-old Scot, who began his professional career at Heart of Midlothian, has spent the last two seasons on loan at Northampton Town.

He has signed a four-year contract, subject to clearance from the EFL and FA.

"I felt like the time was right," Leonard told BluesTV.

"And I knew that Blues was the club that I wanted to play for so I really pushed for the deal to go through.

"Based on where I am in my career and where Birmingham are trying to get to, I just felt like the ambition of this club really matched my own."

American-owned Blues, who had almost 20,000 at St Andrew's to watch them beat Rangers 2-1 in a pre-season friendly - the Trevor Francis Memorial Match - on Tuesday night, have set pulses racing in the Midlands with their spending this summer.

Although speculation remains that highly-rated Wales Under-21 international Jordan James may move on, having been strongly linked with both Atalanta and Fiorentina earlier this summer, Blues have now bought eight players.

Leonard follows the weekend arrival of fellow midfielder Willum Willumsson from Dutch side Go Ahead Eagles and Austrian centre-back Christoph Klarer from German Bundesliga 2 side Darmstadt - both for substantial seven-figure fees.

Blues also paid a seven-figure sum for Hearts full-back Alex Cochrane, as well as undisclosed fees for winger Emil Hansson and Charlton Athletic striker Alfie May.

And they have offset the loss of veteran John Ruddy to Newcastle United by signing two goalkeepers - Ryan Allsop from Hull City and Bailey Peacock-Farrell from Burnley.