U.S. defender Jonathan Spector leaves Birmingham City amid MLS interest

U.S. international Jonathan Spector will leaveBirmingham City this month amid interest from MLS teams, Blues coach Gianfranco Zola has confirmed.

Zola said earlier this week that "there might be a request" for Spector, Birmingham's longest-serving player, to leave the Championship club, and the manager has now confirmed that the defender will be allowed to depart with six months remaining on his contract.

"I am a little bit disappointed and sad that Jonathan Spector will be leaving us," Zola said, according to the Birmingham Mail. "He deserves that. He's going to go home and I wish him all the best."

Spector is a Chicago native, and the Fire have already been very active this offseason, adding striker Nemanja Nikolic from Legia Warsaw and midfielder Juninho on loan from Tijuana, before acquiring New York Red Bulls captain Dax McCarty on Monday.

The 30-year-old Spector has been with Birmingham since joining from West Ham in 2011. He started his professional career with Manchester United in 2003 and has never played in MLS.

Birmingham allowed Spector, who played right-back for the club, to leave one day after the signing ofMiddlesbrough winger Emilio Nsue, butZola said they were different players.

"[Nsue] has the attacking qualities from a right-back which are important,"Zola told the BBC. "He is different from Jonathan Spector. He is very good on the offensive. Jonathan is very good on the defensive."

Also on Thursday, Birmingham completed the signing of left-back Cheick Keita for an undisclosed fee fromSerie B'sVirtus Entella on a three-and-a-half year deal.

He is Zola's fourth January signing after Nsue, Lukas Jutkiewicz and Craig Gardner.