Lloyd Dyer claims more than half of the teams in the Championship wanted to sign him before he made his loan move from Watford to Birmingham City.

Dyer joined the Hornets last summer but struggled to break into the first team and was told by Slavisa Jokanovic at the start of the month that he could leave Vicarage Road.

The 32-year-old completed a switch to the Blues until the end of the season on Monday and said he is looking forward to representing the city of his birth.

“I am absolutely delighted,” he told bcfc.com. “Being a Brummie boy, this is a proud moment for me, representing my own city. Whoever knows me, they will tell you that there is no prouder Brummie than me. So this move is fantastic.

“I probably had over half the league interested. There were even clubs who offered massive incentives. To me, though, as soon as Birmingham became involved there was only one choice.”

Dyer started his career at Birmingham but was released at the age of 15. He says he didn’t play professionally for two years before signing with West Bromwich Albion in 2000.

He spent six years at the Hawthorns before brief spells at Millwall and MK Dons. He moved to Leicester City in 2008 and stayed with the Foxes until he made the switch to Watford last summer.

Whilst Jokanovic deemed the winger surplus to requirements, and stopped him training with the first-team, Blues boss Gary Rowett believes signing Dyer is a boost for the club.

“We fought off interest from at least four or five other Championship sides and it’s a real feather in our cap that we’re able to attract someone like him and he wants to come to us and I see that as a real positive,” Rowett told Birmingham’s website.

“The board have backed me fantastically well. Panos (Pavlakis) agreed the deal and ultimately it is quite a big deal for us financially and that’s another positive.

“It’s a good sign and long may that continue that we’re able to compete against other teams that perhaps can offer more money than us. The board have been brilliant in terms of backing one or two of our ideas.”