NEW Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has launched an official bid to sign Rovers winger Damien Duff.

I can reveal Chelsea have faxed TWO official bids for the Republic of Ireland winger in the last 48 hours.

So far, Rovers have turned down a £15 million offer for the 24-year-old.

But the player has a clause in his contract which would entitle him to speak to any club who tables an offer in excess of £17 million plus add-ons.

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"We've had two bids from Chelsea and we've rejected both," said chief executive John Williams this morning.

"We've rejected them and we don't want Damien to go.

"There is a clause in his contract which we negotiated 12 months ago and if Chelsea meet the requirement of that clause then it's out of our hands.

"Damien is then entitled to speak to any club who meets that requirement and it would then be his decision."

Rovers received the first official bid from Chelsea on Tuesday but that was quickly rejected.

Then the Londoners came back in with a new, improved offer yesterday but that still fell short of the figure written into Duff's contract.

However, Rovers would be powerless to block a move if the Blues upped the ante by another two million which seems likely given the spending power of the club's new Russian owner.

"We won't accept any bids which are short of the clause in the contract," insists Williams.

"But if someone meets it then he's free to speak to them and it's his choice."

Duff and his advisers have been made aware of the situation, as has manager Graeme Souness who is currently away on holiday in Spain.

"If we receive any enquiry for any of our players then we do tell them because that's the way we run our football club," said Williams.