Portsmouth's former England striker Andy Cole is set to join Birmingham on loan after only eight months at Fratton Park.
The 35-year-old striker, who has made only nine first-team starts for Pompey since a £500,000 move from Manchester City in August, approached boss Harry Redknapp over his frustration at not playing regularly.
And he has been given the green light to go on loan to Championship promotion-chasers Birmingham until the end of the season.
Steve Bruce's relegated club, currently second in the table with a game in hand over leaders Derby, are set to take over his lucrative contract until the end of May.
But former Newcastle, Manchester United and Fulham ace Cole has another year on his deal with Pompey and could return next season - depending on how he performs at St Andrews.
Redknapp believes his side can cope without Cole even though they have struggled to score goals lately.
The striker, who won 15 caps for England, has started just five Premiership games for Portsmouth and made 13 appearances from the bench. He has scored three Premiership goals - the last at Bolton in December - and one more in an FA Cup third-round win over Wigan.
Redknapp said: 'Andy came to see me and said "Harry, I'm 35, I want to be playing all the time". I understand where he is coming from.
'He wants to play regularly. He's one of those guys who wants to be starting every game. And you have got to respect him for that.
'If he feels like that, you can't stand in his way. He's not happy to just sit back and take his money.
'It's been difficult fitting him into the team every week with the other strikers we have. Birmingham want to take over his contract until 30 May, which covers the play-offs.
'So it all depends on what happens at Birmingham and what he wants to do.'
Cole's unsettled state at Fratton Park has been evident for some time. In January he was allowed to speak to Everton about a loan move there after earlier enquiries about him from Charlton and West Ham.
He is a former Old Trafford team-mate of Bruce who hopes he can bring the goals to sustain Birmingham's promotion hopes.
They have not scored more than one goal in a league game since December, and their most experienced fit striker is former Pompey trainee Rowan Vine, who joined from Luton in January.
