The two clubs had agreed a fee and the Blues had negotiated personal terms with the player last week, with the move being finalised after the 24-year-old passed his medical.

Manager Alex McLeish told the club website: "Michel is in a great age group and has got good legs and a lovely touch on the ball as you would imagine from a Spanish player performing at La Liga level."

Michel becomes the St Andrew's club's first signing of the transfer window after making 138 appearances and scoring seven goals for Gijon since making his first-team debut during the 2005-06 season.

He was named as the Asturian outfit's player of the season during each of their last two campaigns.

Michel is unlikely to be McLeish's only acquisition during the current transfer window.

It is no secret the Blues boss has £20million-£40million to spend following Carson Yeung's takeover, with a host of big-name players already linked.

Reported moves for Kevin Kuranyi and Kenwyne Jones have hit the buffers due to the inflated cost of the packages involved, while the Blues were also linked with a move for Liverpool's Ryan Babel.

Regarding further new arrivals, McLeish insisted today there was nothing imminent but that he "remains interested in one or two players".

But he also pointed to inflated prices at the start of January and bigger price tags on the continent as reasons why the market on the whole - and Birmingham's activity - has not yet reached fever pitch.

"If there's £20million to spend then I'm sure Carson means that but whether I spend that remains to be seen," he said.

"I would probably need to bring four or five players in to get through that money. I'm certainly not going to spend it on one player because I don't think we're ready for that step.

"There are a few clubs that are desperate for cash and we're aware of that as well.

"So prices can be inflated at the beginning of the month and they start to see sense towards the end of January."

McLeish added: "Some prices abroad are definitely inflated but the Premier League managers and clubs tend to know the market value for players.

"It's like buying a house - it's whoever is prepared to pay the money.

"But the Premier League is a tough place to buy players because when you're an established player prices tend to go up very rapidly."