Birmingham City have named Austrian centre-back Christoph Klarer as their seventh summer signing.

Klarer, 24, joins Blues from Bundesliga II club Darmstadt to become the third signing of the week. Blues paid an undisclosed fee for the defender who has signed a three-year deal with the option of a further 12 months. Alex Cochrane and Iceland international Willum Willumsson have already joined Hearts and Go Ahead Eagles respectively.

Klarer played regularly in the Bundesliga last season as Darmstadt finished bottom and were relegated to the German second division, playing 30 of their 34 games and scoring twice against Frankfurt and Cologne.

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Before joining Darmstadt last summer, Klarer spent three seasons with Dusseldorf, where he was a regular in the Bundesliga II. This is not his first spell in England, as he spent time at Southampton in his youth when fellow countryman Ralph Hasenhuttl was manager at St Mary’s.

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