BLACKBURN Rovers are trying to line up a prestigious pre-season friendly against one of the giants of Italian football.

Manager Graeme Souness wants to round off his preparations for next season with a high-profile game against one of the superpowers of European football.

And as I understand it, the club is currently in negotiations with officials from both Roma and Parma about a pre-season curtain-raiser at Ewood on the weekend before the Premiership starts up again in August.

Similar games have been organised by Rovers in the past with both Barcelona and Lazio visiting Ewood in recent seasons.

Both of those matches proved to be ideal preparation for the rigours of a new season and now Rovers are hoping to tap into their Italian contacts to lure another big name to Ewood.

The club already has links with Parma after they negotiated a deal to bring Vratislav Gresko to England on loan earlier in the season.

And a friendly with the Serie A club could well be incorporated into any package to sign the Slovakian international permanently.

Saturday August 9 has been earmarked as a possible date for the game and whoever provides the opposition -- whether it's Parma or Roma.

Roma currently boast an international cast which includes Brazilian internationals Cafu and Aldair and Italian quartet Francesco Totti, Marco Delvecchio, Vincenzo Montella and Damiano Tommasi, while Parma can call on the likes of Antonio Benarrivo, Paolo Cannavaro and Japanese World Cup star Hidetoshi Nakata.

Several other friendlies have already been lined up for the summer and the club are still finalising plans regarding a 10-day training break at the end of July.

France and Denmark have both been mentioned as possible venues but the preferred choice remains the United States.

Games against Washington-based outfit DC United and the New York Metros have already been pencilled in and Rovers are currently trying to sort out training facilities in order to make the trip possible.

"As things stand, the United States is our number one choice and we are currently working on the logistics of such a trip," said chief executive John Williams.

In the meantime, Coventry City are set to receive another £400,000 windfall from the transfer of David Thompson to Rovers.

Thompson moved to Ewood for a £1.5million fee last summer but there was a clause in the deal which guaranteed them a further £400,000 if Rovers finished in the top 10..