GRAEME Souness today admitted he may have to take a gamble on another foreign import as he attempts to bolster his squad during the January transfer window.

Souness has already had his fingers burnt in the foreign market after paying £6.75 million for Italian flop Ciccio Grabbi.

However, the Blackburn boss may now have to look to the continent again as he tries to find a solution to his problems on the left-hand side of midfield.

Souness will make the recruitment of a left-sided player a top priority when the transfer window opens later this month.

The Ewood chief has only limited funds to play with and he had earmarked a large proportion of that for a target man.

However, with Grabbi on the verge of a possible move to Italian side Ancona,

Souness hopes to be given the green light to use the wages he would save on a left-sided player.

But that would mean taking a punt on another foreign import because Souness feels there's a dearth of quality left-sided players in England.

"If we were to get a left-sided player in then we'd have to look at another foreigner but it's a big, big risk," said Souness.

"And if he's not costing £3-4 million, is he going to be improving our lot?

"If you take a foreigner in our football it's a big question mark.

"That's why we looked at the boy Brian McBride from America because he has played here.

"It's not going to take him six weeks or two months to go 'what's all this about?'

"It might take him a couple of games because he has an understanding of what he's coming to."

Souness is still hopeful a deal for Grabbi will go through, even if it means the club have to write-off the £6.75 million they paid Ternana for his services two and a half years ago.

Agents representing the 28-year-old had talks with Ancona over the weekend and they are now trying to thrash out a deal which would see the Italians take over the remaining 18 months of his contract.

"It's all down to personal terms and whether he fancies it or not," said Souness.

"His agent spoke to the president of Ancona over the weekend, I believe, so we'll have to wait and see."

In the meantime, Souness has still not abandoned all hope of signing Brian McBride.

The Rovers boss said he would not be held to ransom by the MLS (Major League Soccer) over the size of the loan fee.

But talks are set to continue over Christmas as Souness looks to bolster his fire-power in preparation for the second half of the season.