Blackburn Rovers manager Sam Allardyce says he continues to believe that Paraguayan striker Roque Santa Cruz will still be at Ewood Park at the close of the transfer window.

 

The 27 year-old international was the subject of a £12M offer from moneybags Manchester City which Rovers rejected. However, City has yet to return with an improved offer which Allardyce sees as a positive step in his bid to retain the services of a player who he valued at £40M which would be the cost to Rovers of relegation.

"We do not want to sell him" Allardyce said "It would cause a huge amount of panic and inflation" (to find a replacement). The former Newcastle and Bolton boss finds himself in the same position as a number of other Premiership managers who are aware that cash in the bank does not equal points on the pitch. "The money is no good to me at this stage of the season".

Santa Cruz was signed by Allardyce’s predecessor Mark Hughes in 2007. With Blackburn lying perilously close to the bottom of the Premiership, Sam won’t be the only one hoping that City do not up the ante.