Blackburn Rovers have signed experienced Denmark defender Lars Jacobsen on a two-year deal. Jacobsen, 29, spent last season at Everton but made only four starts for the FA Cup finalists.

He becomes Rovers’ third signing of the summer following the arrivals of midfielder Elrio van Heerden and left back Gael Givet. Jacobsen will fill the gap left by the departures of right backs Andre Ooijer and on-loan Danny Simpson.

A dislocated shoulder picked up on international duty last summer meant that Jacobsen’s time at Goodison Park was disrupted by injury. The Danish international’s former clubs include Odense, Hamburg, Copenhagen and Nuremburg. He has 22 caps for his country. He made four Barclays Premier League appearances with one as substitute for Everton last season and came off the bench to replace Tony Hibbert in the FA Cup final.

Published under: Transfers, Players

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Blackburn Rovers looked to have agreed a deal to sign French midfielder Steven N’Zonzi. The 20-year-old has been labelled ‘the new Patrick Vieira’ after establishing himself in the Amiens team last season. Though Amiens suffered relegation from Ligue 2, N’Zonzi impressed in featuring on a regular basis.

He was linked with a move to Blackburn earlier this month, while Premier League rivals Portsmouth are also understood to have shown an interest. However, Rovers look to have won the chase for the promising youngster with Sam Allardyce agreeing personal terms with N’Zonzi.

Published under: Transfers, Players

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Ruud van Nistelrooy
Manager Sam Allardyce says he is hoping to sign Real Madrid striker Ruud van Nistelrooy. The former Manchester United striker, who netted 95 Premier League goals in 150 appearances for the Red Devils, has not featured for the Madridistas since late 2008 after undergoing knee surgery.

And the Dutchman, along with fellow countrymen Arjen Robben, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Rafael van der Vaart, Wesley Sneijder and Royston Drenthe have all been linked with moves away from the Bernabeu this summer as new president Florentino Perez continues to splash out on stellar acquistions, including Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Ewood Park outfit are on the lookout for new recruits up-front with strikers Roque Santa Cruz and Matt Derbyshire having departed for Manchester City and Olympiakos respectively. And Allardyce has revealed his hopes of bringing the 32-year-old back to the North West of England.

Christian Vieri
Rovers are being linked with former Milan, Inter, Juventus, Lazio and Atletico Madrid star Christian Vieri, according to La Gazzetta Dello Sport. The 36-year-old veteran striker rescinded his contract with Atalanta back in April, after a lack of regular action in Bergamo.

The ex-Italy international has been trying to get himself back into the game of late, but he has not had any luck in doing so. He was recently linked with Atletico Paranaense, Corinthians and Ajax Cape Town, but none of these moves actually came off.

Now some reports about Vieri’s future claim he wants to join Blackburn Rovers. Voices surrounding the player suggest he wants to spend pre-season with the English side in Austria, in order to prove his fitness to the club, and other Premier League sides who may be interested in his services.

There have been fears that Vieri’s lack of fitness would prevent him from continuing his footballing career with the player himself even talking about a possible move into professional poker.

Michael Owen
Sam Allardyce won’t be looking to sign Michael Owen this summer. Rovers have been linked with the England striker, out of contract at Newcastle United next week, but the 29-year-old’s injury problems have ended Allardyce’s interest.

“I just question the injury scenario,” he said in The Independent. “I need a striker who’s going to be available for 30 games next season. That’s not happened for Michael over the last four years at Newcastle United.”

Published under: Transfers, Players

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Matt Derbyshire has left Blackburn Rovers to join Olympiakos after the Greek giants agreed to pay a fee in the region of £3million. Derbyshire, who was a revelation with Olympiakos last season when bagging eight goals in 11 games, has penned a four-year deal and follows Roque Santa Cruz out of the exit door. The England Under-21 star says he is delighted with the move and cannot wait to begin pre-season training.

“I am very happy with this transfer. I wanted to stay at Olympiakos,” he said. “I hope to improve myself and become much better next season. I want to score more goals with Olympiakos. “I am looking forward to going to Austria for the pre-season, it’s fantastic the feeling for me. I will try my best to help Olympiakos. With hard work and I hope to succeed.”

Published under: Transfers, Players

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Roque Santa Cruz has completed his long-awaited move to Manchester City from Blackburn Rovers. The Paraguay striker is well-known to City manager Mark Hughes who signed him for Rovers from Bayern Munich two years ago.

Hughes has never made any secret of his desire to have Santa Cruz at City and had several offers rejected during the January transfer window. However he has now finally landed the 27-year-old who passed a medical at the City of Manchester Stadium to become City’s second major signing of the summer, following the capture of Gareth Barry from Aston Villa.

Santa Cruz began his professional career with Olimpia Asuncion in his home town, helping them to two championship titles. He also won the Paraguayan Footballer of the Year award in 1999. He made his debut for Paraguay as a 17-year-old and has gone on to win 60 more caps. He is expected to lead their attack at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and clock up a third appearance in the finals.

Published under: Transfers, Players

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