Ivelin Popov deal not yet completed, says Blackburn Rovers manager

• Sam Allardyce says club are in ‘tentative negotiations’
• Rovers eager to strengthen forward options

The Blackburn Rovers manager Sam Allardyce is hoping to sign the Bulgarian striker Ivelin Popov this week.

The 22-year-old has been on trial at Ewood Park but Rovers denied claims by the player’s club Litex Lovech last week that a deal had already been completed.

Allardyce said: “We had a little look at him and we are in tentative negotiations. I am not so sure what the total outcome is in terms of price, but he is an interesting player.

“He is a very good young prospect but whether all the numbers stand up is another matter.”

Allardyce is anxious to recruit more firepower to supplement Niko Kalinic before the summer transfer window closes.

He added: “We are trying to get players in and we all know what position we want it to be.

“I don’t want to be doing anything after Friday of this week – I don’t want to be panicking or judging the market in the last couple of days of the window. It is unhealthy doing it like that and you could very easily make mistakes.”

The former Manchester City and Portsmouth forward Benjani Mwaruwari has also been training with Blackburn and Allardyce will give consideration to a deal.

The Zimbabwe international, 32, was released by City at the end of last season.

Allardyce said: “Benji is training with us. We’ll see where we are when that training finishes in the middle of the week and make a decision there.”

Blackburn RoversTransfer windowguardian.co.uk

Premier League transfer window – who needs whom?

A club-by-club guide to the ins and outs of the transfer window so far

Arsenal

Laurent Koscielny and Marouane Chamakh have arrived to bolster defence and attack. Arsène Wenger still needs a goalkeeper as he remains unconvinced by the current No1, Manuel Almunia. Mark Schwarzer is favourite but Manchester City’s Shay Given may interest the manager, who has up to £15m to spend

Who they have signed

Laurent Koscielny (Lorient, £9.7m), Marouane Chamakh (Bordeaux, free)

Who they still want

Mark Schwarzer (Fulham), Shay Given (Manchester City)

Aston Villa

It is difficult to see much activity at Villa Park unless a permanent manager is appointed before the window closes. With Stephen Ireland arriving as part of the James Milner deal and several promising youngsters emerging, Villa’s squad looks reasonably strong, although a prolific goalscorer would be a welcome addition

Who they have signed

Stephen Ireland (Manchester City, part-exchange)

Who they still want

No targets at present

Birmingham City

Alex McLeish has endured plenty of frustration since making a couple of early signings. The arrival of Matt Derbyshire has increased McLeish’s attacking options but the Birmingham manager still feels his squad lacks depth and quality. A left-winger, such as Charles N’Zogbia, remains high on his list

Who they have signed

Ben Foster (Man Utd, £6m), Nikola Zigic (Valencia, £6m), Enric Valles (NAC Breda, free), Matt Derbyshire (Olympiakos, loan)

Who they still want

Charles N’Zogbia (Wigan)

Blackburn Rovers

A prospective new owner is talking up a £100m war chest for Sam Allardyce and, alarmingly, the prospect of bringing David Beckham to Ewood Park. Back in the real world, Allardyce is continuing his exhaustive search for an inexpensive striker to rectify last season’s glaring weakness

Who they have signed

Hugo Fernández (Unión Deportiva Cornellà, nominal), Mame Biram Diouf (Man Utd, loan)

Who they still want

Ivelin Popov (Litex Lovech), Benjani Mwaruwari (free agent)

Blackpool

A chaotic summer has now seen Blackpool’s chairman, Karl Oyston, step down, leaving Ian Holloway and his players with little inkling of what the future holds. A £10,000 a week wage ceiling makes recruitment tricky

Who they have signed

Craig Cathcart (Man Utd, £500k), Chris Basham (Bolton, £500k), Marlon Harewood (free agent), Elliot Grandin (CSKA Sofia, undisc), Ludovic Sylvestre (Mlada Boleslav, undisc), Malaury Martin (Monaco, free)

Who they still want

Anyone Holloway can get his hands on

Bolton Wanderers

Owen Coyle hopes mainly to trim his squad, with Danny Shittu and Jlloyd Samuel among those available, but he will explore the loan market towards the end of the window. The priority is a passer in midfield after recruiting Jack Wilshere on loan from Arsenal last season

Who they have signed

Marcos Alonso (Real Madrid, £1.6m), Tom Eaves (Oldham, £350,000), Robbie Blake (Burnley, free), Ivan Klasnic (Nantes, free), Martin Petrov (Man City, free)

Who they still want

Tom Cleverley (Man Utd)

Chelsea

Carlo Ancelotti began the summer wanting to bolster his midfield and attack, and following Ricardo Carvalho’s departure for Real Madrid he now appears light in central defence, although he says he will not be strengthening that area. If he can add the Brazil forward Neymar he will be content

Who they have signed

Ramires (Benfica £16.3m), Yossi Benayoun (Liverpool, £5m), Matej Delac (Zapresic, £2.7m), Tomas Kalac (Sigma, undisc)

Who they still want

Neymar (Santos)

Everton

Ideally, David Moyes would love to add a top goalscorer and a quick right-midfielder to his squad. The reality is that he has no money to spend unless he sells Yakubu Ayegbeni, Joseph Yobo and, more reluctantly, Steven Pienaar. The approach to Craig Bellamy shows Moyes has not given up hope of a late solution

Who they have signed

Magaye Gueye (Strasbourg, £900k), João Silva (Aves, £500k), Jermaine Beckford (Leeds, free), Jan Mucha (Legia Warsaw, free)

Who they still want

Marat Izmailov (Sporting Lisbon)

Fulham

Mark Hughes’s squad is light on fresh faces and, if Mark Schwarzer moves to Arsenal, he will need a goalkeeper. A central defender is also a requirement due to Philippe Senderos’s six-month layoff with an achilles injury. Hughes’s budget extends to around £12m

Who they have signed

Moussa Dembélé (AZ Alkmaar, £5m), Jonathan Greening (West Brom, free), Philippe Senderos (Arsenal, free)

Who they still want

Shay Given (Man City), Paul Robinson (Blackburn), Curtis Davies (Aston Villa)

Liverpool

Roy Hodgson has confirmed he will not be seeking marquee names if a takeover does materialise very soon. “We are looking to add one or two players,” he said this week. Priorities are a striker and a left-back are the priorities

Who they have signed

Christian Poulsen (Juventus, £5m), Brad Jones (Middlesbrough, £2.3m), Danny Wilson (Rangers, £2m), Jonjo Shelvey (Charlton £1.7m), Joe Cole (Chelsea, free), Milan Jovanovic (Standard Liège, free)

Who they still want

Paul Konchesky (Fulham), Nacho Monreal (Osasuna), Ola Toivonen (PSV Eindhoven)

Manchester City

Roberto Mancini has said City’s summer spending – six players at a total cost of £126m – is now finished and there is no reason to disbelieve him but the club’s financial position means they will always be in the market if a top player suddenly becomes available. Saturday’s draw at Tottenham demonstrated there are still areas of the team that need improvement, particularly in defence but also the need for a target man in attack Who they have signed

David Silva (Valencia, £26m), James Milner (Aston Villa, £26m), Yaya Touré (Barcelona, £24.5m), Mario Balotelli (Inter, £22.5m), Aleksandar Kolarov (Lazio, £16.5m), Jérôme Boateng (Hamburg, £10.5m)

Who they still want

David Luiz (Benfica) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Barcelona) are possible targets

Manchester United

Sir Alex Ferguson has spent around £25m this summer and it is difficult to imagine the Glazers releasing any more transfer funds given the club’s financial position. United are the best in the business, though, when it comes to pulling off under-the-radar deals, so it cannot be completely ruled out. Mesut Ozil was a genuine target until it became clear he favoured Real Madrid

Who they have signed

Chris Smalling (Fulham, £10m), Bébé (Vitória, £7.4m), Javier Hernández (Chivas, £6m)

Who they still want

Raúl Meireles (Porto) is a possible target

Newcastle United

Chris Hughton has been constrained by the general policy directive – breached in Sol Campbell’s case – to sign promising under-25s as cheaply as possible on salaries lower than £25,000 a week. Lack of cover in defence and a shortage of creativity needs addressing

Who they have signed

James Perch (Nottm Forest, £1.4m), Sol Campbell (free agent), Dan Gosling (Everton, free)

Who they still want

Hatem Ben Arfa (Marseille), Victor Anichebe (Everton), cover at left-back

Stoke City

Tony Pulis was linked with a bid for the Wigan Athletic striker Hugo Rodallega, but news that Kenwyne Jones’s injury is as not as serious as first feared means that the deal is unlikely. Pulis’s main task for the remainder of the transfer window is to offload several fringe players who are contributing little beyond adding to the wage bill

Who they have signed

Kenwyne Jones (Sunderland, £8m), Florent Cuvelier (Portsmouth, undisc)

Who they still want

Nobody

Sunderland

Recruiting a physically imposing target man to replace Kenwyne Jones is Steve Bruce’s priority, although Charles N’Zogbia is also very much wanted on Wearside

Who they have signed

Marcos Angeleri (Estudiantes, £2m), Simon Mignolet (Sint Truidense, £2m), Titus Bramble (Wigan, £1m), Cristian Riveros (Toluca, free), Nedum Onuoha (Man City, loan), Danny Welbeck (Man Utd, loan)

Who they still want

Charles N’Zogbia (Wigan), Asamoah Gyan (Rennes), Roque Santa Cruz (Man City)

West Bromwich Albion

The flaws in Roberto Di Matteo’s squad were exposed in the 6-0 defeat at Chelsea. The manager is keen to bring in a defender, central midfielder, winger and centre-forward

Who they have signed

Nicky Shorey (Aston Villa, £1.5m), Boaz Myhill (Hull, £1.5m), Gabriel Tamas (Auxerre, £800k), Pablo Ibáñez (Atletico Madrid, free)

Who they still want

Marc Wilson (Portsmouth), Cheick Tioté (FC Twente), Peter Odemwingie (Lokomotiv Moscow)

Tottenham Hotspur

Harry Redknapp is ready to ship out Robbie Keane and Jermaine Jenas to accommodate new personnel. With Ledley King a perennial injury concern and Jonathan Woodgate’s season in doubt, he would like to sign a central defender. He was also keen on Craig Bellamy, suggesting he wants a forward

Who they have signed

Sandro (Internacional, £6m)

Who they still want

William Gallas (free agent), Brede Hangeland (Fulham), Loïc Rémy (Nice), Scott Parker (West Ham)

West Ham United

Avram Grant has bought in bulk but is still in the market for a right-back and is keen to sign a 15-goal-a-season man. Kieron Dyer made yet another comeback in the reserves recently so may give the squad a welcome boost

Who they have signed

Pablo Barrera (Pumas UNAM, £4m), Winston Reid (Midtjylland, £3m), Frédéric Piquionne (Lyon, £1m), Thomas Hitzlsperger (Lazio, free), Tal Ben Haim (Portsmouth, loan)

Who they still want

Nigel Reo-Coker (Aston Villa), Roque Santa Cruz (Manchester City)

Wigan Athletic

The loss of Titus Bramble has destabilised the defence and manager Roberto Martínez desperately needs to replace him. Keeping the likes of Hugo Rodallega and Charles N’Zogbia is also crucial

Who they have signed

Mauro Boselli (Estudiantes, £6.5m), Ronnie Stam (FC Twente, £3m), James McArthur (Hamilton, £500k), Antolín Alcaraz (Brugge, free), Ali al-Habsi (Bolton, loan)

Who they still want

Franco Di Santo (Chelsea, loan), Steven Caldwell (free agent)

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Indian tycoon Ahasan Ali Syed makes a move to buy Blackburn Rovers

• Blackburn’s advisers have been approached over deal
• Syed said to be prepared to invest £300m into the club

Blackburn Rovers who have long struggled to keep their heads above water in the Premier League are reported to be the subject of a £300m takeover bid by a Indian businessman.

Ahasan Ali Syed, the head of investment firm Western Gulf, which is based in Bahrain and Switzerland, has made an approach to the club’s advisers, Rothchilds, with a view to buying Rovers, clearing their debts and giving manager Sam Allardyce the funs to bring in new players.

Rothchilds has alerted the trustees of the late Jack Walker’s estate, who still have a huge influence on the club. Two years ago the estate made it clear it was no longer in a position to underwrite the club indefinitely. Walker, a life-long Rovers fan, bankrolled the club to the 1995 Premier League title under manager Kenny Dalglish.

Syed, 36, is the sole heir to the family business which has its origins in the East India Company. He was educated in London, is a qualified lawyer and owns racehorses in Bahrain.

He is understood to have singled out Blackburn because of their potential for growth. He wants a deal to be agreed this month and the sale completed in September.

Earlier this summer, another bid from India tabled a £25m bid, offering to tap into Blackburn’s large Asian population.

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