Savage completes move to Blackburn
 |  Savage has been reunited with his former Wales manager Mark Hughes |
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LONDON, England -- Wales midfielder Robbie Savage has completed his £3m ($5.64 million) switch from Birmingham to Premier League rivals Blackburn after passing a medical.
Savage has signed a three-and-a-half year deal with Rovers, who are now managed by former Wales manager Mark Hughes, after citing family reasons for handing in a transfer request two weeks ago.
The combative 30-year-old joined Birmingham in 2002 for £1.25m from Leicester and was soon a first-team regular under Steve Bruce.
Birmingham had originally said they understood "the strain of driving up and down the motorway to visit relatives in north Wales" and had offered to provide a car and chauffeur to take Savage to and from his home town of Wrexham.
However, most Birmingham supporters believe his real motives were financial.
Birmingham have already moved to fill the gap that Savage's departure will leave by signing Senegal international midfielder Salif Diao on loan from Liverpool.
Blackburn will now be expected to grant their captain Barry Ferguson his request for a move back to Scotland, providing his former club Rangers come up with a satisfactory offer.
Savage, a former Manchester United trainee with David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs, is Hughes' third signing in the January transfer window after New Zealand captain Ryan Nelsen and South Africa skipper Aaron Mokoena.
