BLACKBURN boss Graeme Souness has rejected the chance to sign veteran Italian defender Moreno Torricelli.

As we reported at the weekend, Souness wants to beef up his squad before this Saturday's transfer deadline after agreeing to sell Hakan Unsal back to Galatasaray.

And the Rovers boss invited former Juventus star Torricelli to a training session at Brockhall yesterday after being alerted to his availability by an agent.

However, after taking a closer look at the versatile 32-year-old, Souness has since decided not to pursue his interest in that direction.

And that has now left the way clear for Everton boss David Moyes to make a pre-transfer deadline swoop for the player, who can leave crisis club Fiorentina on a free.

"Graeme got a call from an agent and he was sufficiently interested to have a look at him so he came up to Brockhall yesterday," said chief executive John Williams.

"I think he's essentially a right-back, who would be available on a Bosman, but we've decided not to pursue that one."

Now Souness is likely to switch his attention elsewhere in a bid to boost his resources before Saturday's deadline.

Coventry City midfielder David Thompson remains his number one target and Rovers will make a fresh bid for the 23-year-old in the next few days.

But national newspaper stories linking the club with moves for Brazilian Eriberto and South Korean star Ahn Jung-hwan are wide of the mark.

Souness was interested in Jung-hwan some time ago after he caught the eye at the World Cup by scoring the winning goal for South Korea against Italy.

However, when Rovers then investigated his work permit situation, they decided it would be too difficult to complete a deal.

And they finally dropped all interest in the Perugia striker when they wrapped up the signing of Dwight Yorke instead.

"We were quite interested in him immediately after the World Cup once we knew that Matt Jansen was going to be out of action for a while," said Williams.

"But we perceived there could be work permit problems and then we dropped our interest altogether once we knew we could definitely get Dwight.

"So that's an old story."

Rovers reserves lost 1-0 to a strong Birmingham City side in a behind-closed-doors friendly at Brockhall yesterday.

Blues boss Steve Bruce played virtually his entire first team in the game.