BLACKBURN Rovers have officially ruled themselves out of the race to sign Bolton superstar Jay-Jay Okocha.

Several stories in the national Press had claimed that Blackburn boss Graeme Souness was poised to swoop for the Nigerian international in the summer.

But I can reveal that Souness has no interest in the twinkle-toed midfielder, who now looks set to put pen-to paper on a brand new £2 million-a-year deal with Wanderers in the next few weeks.

"Graeme has no interest in Jay-Jay Okocha whatsoever," said a senior source close to Souness today.

"There's no doubt Jay-Jay is a huge crowd pleaser but he's just not Graeme's type of player and he won't be coming to Ewood Park this summer."

Rovers have struggled to fill the creative void left by Damien Duff ever since the Republic of Ireland international left for Chelsea last summer.

But Okocha would not fit into Souness's rigid 4-4-2 system, which is why any talk of him joining Rovers is a non-starter.

Now Bolton hope to tie up their star man on a new deal in the next few weeks.

Okocha has already hinted that he wants to stay at the Reebok, even though Wanderers missed out on a place in Europe as a result of their Carling Cup defeat against Middlesbrough at the weekend.

"I want to have this sorted and put behind me," said the Nigerian.

"I would like to know where my future lies as quickly as possible. I am looking for a new contract from Bolton or any other club."

In the meantime, Souness has whisked his players off to Spain this week for a few days of rest and recuperation.

They will spend the next couple of days in Marbella, where they still plan to train on a daily basis.

"As it's turned out, the training pitches are currently frozen at Brockhall anyway so this is a chance for us to train in the sunshine for a few days," said Souness.

Rovers are without a game this weekend due to their early exit from the FA Cup.

Meanwhile, recent signing Martin Andresen was pleased with his debut performance against Southampton on Saturday -- but not with the overall result.

The Norwegian international felt the 1-1 draw was two points dropped rather than one gained.

"We should have won the game," said Andresen.

"Southampton were the best in the first half, but in the second half we were clearly better.

"It was good getting started with the first team, though. I feel that I will handle the level better this time."