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Birmingham City have been scuppered in their attempts to sign Leeds United striker Joe Gelhardt. The 24-year-old was believed to be on the cusp of finalising a move to St Andrew's only for Hull City, where he spent last season, to make a last-minute intervention and agree a permanent deal. Gelhardt had been a key player for Hull as they won promotion to the Premier League last season. He scored 15 times during a loan spell, including the second in a 2-0 play-off semi-final win at Millwall. He is now expected to sign a long-term contract at the MKM Stadium. Hull have been forced to make their move this week, just when it seemed they were about to miss out on a reunion. There was also apparent interest from Wrexham. HullLive report: "Hull had held lengthy internal discussions throughout the summer about whether to pursue a move and it was felt they could make a move later in the window, after they’d secured other targets. However, they've now decided to try and get it wrapped up before he goes elsewhere. FOLLOW ON FACEBOOK! All the latest Blues news on Birmingham Live’s Birmingham City FC Facebook page "Boss Sergej Jakirovic had made it clear that Gelhardt was one of his top transfer targets, though it looked like the popular forward would end up at St Andrew’s. Gelhardt was on the cusp of signing for the Blues and the second city was his destination until the Tigers stepped in and will now try to strike a deal." Last season was Gelhardt's second loan at Hull, for whom he has now clocked up 60 appearances, scoring 20 times. Blues started their season last weekend with a Carabao Cup win at Swansea. They make the trip to Sheffield United on Saturday (5.30pm) for their first Championship game of the term.