Birmingham City forward Luciano Figueroa hopes he can establish himself in manager Steve Bruce's first XI after Fifa finally ended any doubts surrounding the legitimacy of his move to Blues from Argentine side Rosario Central two months ago.
 Football's governing body last night ruled that Osasuna had no legal claim over the 22-year-old forward after the Spanish club complained that he had previously agreed to join them and Fifa were called in to investigate following Figueroa's switch to St Andrew's in August for £2.25 million. Consequently Figueroa, who has yet to make a start for the Birmingham first team, hopes the end to the uncertainty surrounding his future can provide a springboard for success at the club. The striker, whose only Premiership action to date was a brief substitute's appearance against Portsmouth, said: "Osasuna claimed that I had signed a contract with them but that is not true. "Fifa have finally agreed and I am glad the situation has now been resolved. I have no regrets about coming to England rather than Spain and I am looking forward to playing in the first team for Birmingham." Osasuna disputed the validity of Figueroa's move to Birmingham by claiming they had a preexisting contract between themselves and the player. However, after weeks of protracted wrangling during which Bruce accused the Spaniards of "skullduggery", Fifa have confirmed their provisional verdict which allowed Figueroa to remain in Birmingham while they investigated. Fifa said: "In view of the facts of the case, the chairman of the players' status committee reached the conclusion that it was the Spanish club's thoughtlessness that brought it into the current situation. "It should have been the responsibility of the Spanish club to make sure that the Argentinian club agreed to the player's transfer before taking the necessary steps regarding the employment contract with the player. "In this respect, the chairman referred to article 13 of the Fifa regulations governing the application of the regulations for the status and transfer of players. "For this reason, the chairman considered that there was no legal ground to accept the claim file by Club Atletico Osasuna, all the more since the validity of the contract between the player and the Spanish club was not verified and no transfer agreement was signed with the club which owned the player's federative rights. "Finally, there was no doubt that the player's transfer from the Argentinian to the English club occurred in accordance with the Fifa regulations for the status and transfer of players and that the provisional decisions taken by the Fifa administration were therefore correct." Meanwhile, Birmingham's record signing David Dunn also received a reprieve from authorities yesterday after referee Chris Foy rescinded the yellow card he awarded him at the Reebok Stadium on Saturday. Dunn was cautioned by the Merseyside official after he went down under a challenge from Ivan Campo in the Bolton penalty area. Despite the howls of protest for a penalty from Blues and their supporters, Foy booked the midfielder for allegedly diving but his decision to overturn that ruling suggests Birmingham should have had a spot kick instead. Consequently, Dunn remains on two yellow cards for the season and is three cautions away from a one-match ban instead of two. Birmingham have also been linked with a £3 million move for Chelsea's right winger Jesper Gronkjaer. The 26-year-old Dane has been limited to a handful of substitutes appearances this season following Roman Abramovich's summer takeover and could be available in the transfer window in January. | 
