Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish has failed in his attempt to sign Lazio defender Guglielmo Stendardo on loan.
Lazio have ruled out a switch following a recent spate of injuries.
McLeish told the Birmingham Mail: “The Stendardo guy, who we were looking at bringing on loan, won’t be happening.
“Lazio have got a bit of an injury crisis right now. He won’t be going anywhere.
“The reason we were considering him on loan and not making a commitment to his club was that we didn’t know enough about him.
“I did the diligence on him, I spoke to contacts in Italy, and I felt it was right we should try to get him on loan first.
“While I have got a centre-back problem, I have got to commend Liam Ridgewell and Rafael Schmitz.
“They’ve done very well together. While they are two left-footers – and yet nobody has got any problem playing two right-footers – they have combined. They have been very, very good but I do have a problem if one of them goes down.”
