STEVE Kean faces a fight to keep hold of his assistant manager Paul Clement – less than three months after bringing him to Ewood Park.
Newly appointed Paris St Germain boss Carlo Ancelotti is keen on being reunited with Clement, having worked with him during his management tenure at Chelsea, and will attempt to lure him to France.
Clement would be interested in teaming up with Ancelotti once more, if a deal could be agreed with Rovers, leaving an under fire Kean in danger of losing his second assistant this season.
Kean himself has already admitted to being surprised by the sacking of his former number two John Jensen earlier this campaign and is desperate to keep hold of Clement as the club fight against relegation.
Clement’s potential exit would leave Kean looking for his third assistant of the season at a pivotal time of the campaign with Rovers desper-ately looking to strengthen their squad during this month’s transfer window.
Clement, 39, had previously worked with Kean at Fulham but was also assistant first team coach under Ancelotti at Stamford Bridge until the Italian’s departure in the summer brought about his own exit.
Rovers were unavailable for comment yesterday but Paris St Germain sources have confir-med Clement is wanted by their new manager, who was appointed at the end of last month.
Clement is understood to have arrived late at Rovers’ Brockhall training ground yesterday with club sources unsure about where his future would lie.
Meanwhile Rovers have turned down a bid from Newell’s Old Boys to secure the return of Argentine midfielder Mauro Formica.
Formica’s former employers were alerted to Formica’s availability after the player himself admitted to wanting to return him, but Rovers will not allow him to leave on a temporary basis.
Formica said: “My agent spoke with the leaders of Blackburn to see if they would let me go on loan. It was a possibility and I got excited a lot.
“But the sporting director told him to sit and talk only if it was a sale.”
It is understood Rovers would allow the 23-year-old to leave if anyone matches their 5million euros valuation.
Experienced duo Jason Roberts and Michel Salgado are also understood to be available for sale this month, with both frozen out of first team affairs due to ‘contractual issues’.
A number of Premier League clubs, including Spurs and QPR, are understood to be monitoring Rovers’ skipper Chris Samba but no offer has yet gone in for him.
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