After months of holding on to their prized asset, Rovers have finally admitted that they need to offload the Paraguayan international striker. Boss Sam Allardyce is desperate to avoid a second season fighting against the drop and needs cash to rebuild a squad that has also lost Turkish star Tugay this summer.
Blackburn turned down four offers from City, who are pressing ahead with their pursuit of Argentina's Carlos Tevez, in the past twelve months. Now the Blues expect to get their man much cheaper.
Ewood chairman John Williams has admitted that plans hinge around pulling in a decent price for 27-year-old Santa Cruz who missed a chunk of last season through injury and has recently had a minor operation to clean out his knee.
He is also one of Rovers' bigger earners.
"Sam Allardyce understands the financial position and a lot depends on whether Roque goes," said chairman John Williams.
"It's not just in terms of the cash it will generate, but also in finding a replacement. How are we going to replace him?
"We've not got a bottomless pot of money and I think numbers will have to be reduced.
"We are not saying no business will be done in terms of incoming, but clearly there has to be an adjustment."
Allardyce looked at strikers James Beattie and Peter Crouch in January, but his hands were tied after City refused to stump up nearly £20m for their long time target.
Rovers don't want any deal dragging on through the summer and then be left with no time to find a replacement.
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Showing comments 1 to 25 and replies | View All
Tommy "Chopper" C, Oz. (10/06/2009 at 08:31)
Ed the Duck, Manchester (10/06/2009 at 08:32)
CTID
City Slipper, Manchester (10/06/2009 at 08:32)
Kippax Lover, Failswerf, Manchester (10/06/2009 at 08:36)
£10m offer - tops. He's desperate to come to City.
True Blue Middlesbrough, middlesbrough (10/06/2009 at 08:38)
Blue Moon..., Manchester (10/06/2009 at 08:38)
always injured.
any news on tevez?
ctid
Blue Devils Advocate, Eastlands (10/06/2009 at 08:39)
Nick ,The Voice of Reason, , Surrey Stockbroker Belt,(Blackley Born & Bred). (10/06/2009 at 08:44)
The Devil's Advocate, M11 born and bred, East Stand Lower 104 (10/06/2009 at 08:52)
On a separate note: Tevez. If Barry and Kaka can be done deals whilst on International duty, why can't Tevez? I would be extremely wary about this situation. Having said that, if Yernitid had done the deal you would expect them to be arrogantly shouting it from the rooftops. However, if you read the posts on their forums they don't want him anyway; they reckon Berbaflop is better. What's the betting that if they sign him, they suddenly decide he is great player again?
fowler, wythenshawe (10/06/2009 at 08:52)
bluemooner (10/06/2009 at 08:54)
Devon Blue, Devon (10/06/2009 at 08:59)
Go for Villa and Augero
tommybatess, Langley (10/06/2009 at 09:03)
Santa has NO value because he hardly plays, dito Bellamy,and why give a Premiership club a fighting fund?
And It's Neville to Goater ... GOAAAAL !!! (10/06/2009 at 09:07)
better targets out there are all who have been mentioned, IMO he is at the very bottom of the pile, i pray its a smokescreen for someone else.
if anyone saw carlos tevez play for argentina at the weekend you would of seen quite clearly what he would offer us and there shouldn't even be a debate as to weather we should sign him or not, he looked awesome!£22m - 25m for a player like this is not bad at all!
with elano looking set to leave i think we should seriously consider bidding for wesley sneijder, he too is a set piece specialist, a very creative player with goals in him as well. Everyone is aware of the clear out Real look set to have, with Perez not a fan of the dutch contingency there at the moment, this may even mean there is the chance of a deal to be done!?
I would also see if the toure brothers could be lured, that would be a great statement of intent, not sure if its neccessarily a priority though.
personally i would bring in Ricardo Carvalho to add strength to our back line and allow dunne to leave.
C'MON CARLOS GET'YA PEN OUT!!!!
Nick ,The Voice of Reason, , Surrey Stockbroker Belt,(Blackley Born & Bred). (10/06/2009 at 09:18)
stevemac1, Dublin (10/06/2009 at 09:24)
And It's Neville to Goater ... GOAAAAL !!! (10/06/2009 at 09:25)
Blue Dude, Manchester. (10/06/2009 at 09:26)
One final word on the charities, I thought we should have Christies as sponsors, it would have added a tonne of positives to the club. HOWEVER apparently the charity ACORNS (Aston Villa) have just had their worst ever year in donations, regular donors have dropped off the edge; the feeling is that the charity is now being looked after by Villa and so donors have spent their charity budget elsewhere..Very sad, Villa thought they were doing the right thing and I thought so too. You can be very wrong sometimes...That is a PR nightmare for them I would not know how to spin that round.
BlueIsTheColour, West Didsbury (10/06/2009 at 09:29)
No idea what his current fitness situation is and he should be given the mother of all medical examinations. But, if it stacks up, give them 5-8 mil & no more!
We need a target man, but on the pitch not the treatment table.
There are lots of 'stories' this morning saying Robinho wants to go to Barca. Also, interesting story that Yaya Toure is on minimum wages at Barca & could be tempted by a pay packet.
Easy solution there then. Get rid of Robbie & give half his pay packet to Toure! Then Eto'o will not be coming from Barca on his own!!
These are, of course, only 'stories', thrown about by the media with no hint of truth in them. But then again, isn't that the way the football world operates.
CTID
Cityman 5 (10/06/2009 at 09:32)
Sheikh Rattle 'n' Roll With It, Bury (10/06/2009 at 09:33)
10/06/2009 at 09:18
Your anti Hughes rants remain boring and predictable!
Raindazed (10/06/2009 at 09:37)
O'Fortuna (10/06/2009 at 09:38)
We should be using our wealth to ensure we get Dzeko, and either uguero or villa. Doesnt matter if we get flipped on the price these guy can deliver. I reckon Dzeko could be the best prospect for a target man. If he can deliver in Germany I'm sure he can deliver here. Sometimes a top striker in Holland cannot cope with the prems rough house defenders but in Germany there is a blend of speed, power, and aggresive play. Aguero and Villa are small but good enough to be exceptional in any league. We should not be flapping about with RSC. We also should definately proceed with Tevez and Eto. And then match their class in defence. Why mess about? we need to accept being a little bit ripped off until we are in champs league.
Stephen Irelands Bald Head, Hyde (10/06/2009 at 09:38)
You really are getting boring now - I'm pretty sure that even if we bought all the names you listed you would still blame MH for not playing them all in the same team.
Give it, and my eyes a rest ffs.
In KAM, GC&MH We TRUST. CTID
bluemoooon (10/06/2009 at 09:39)
Plus giving Miserable Sam any kind of war chest is plain wrong.