GRAEME Souness will lay the foundations for a fresh swoop for Coventry's David Thompson by sanctioning the sale of Hakan Unsal in the next couple of days.

Turkish giants Galatasaray have made an enquiry about the 29-year-old full-back in the last 48 hours.

And Souness will agree to let the Turkish international re-join his former club in a money-back deal ahead of next week's transfer deadline, which would then leave the way clear for a new bid for Thompson.

As we exclusively revealed at the start of the summer, Souness wants to add the Sky Blues midfielder to his squad before the Premiership transfer window closes next Saturday.

But so far his efforts to lure him to Ewood have been scuppered by financial constraints, with the Rovers board encouraging Souness to offload some of his fringe players before he could bring in anyone else.

Therefore, the £600,000 transfer fee Rovers would bank from the sale of Unsal, plus the money saved on his weekly wage, would then give Souness the financial muscle necessary to test Coventry's resolve.

Sky Blues boss Gary McAllister wants £3.5 million for the 23-year-old but Rovers are only currently prepared to pay around £2 million.

However, with next week's deadline fast approaching, City may have to lower their asking price in the knowledge that they need to generate funds in order to keep the banks off their back.

Meanwhile, Rovers hope to finalise the details of Damien Duff's contract early next week.

Duff revealed he is ready to put pen to paper on a new deal in an exclusive interview with the Evening Telegraph last Monday.

And now he is back in England after international duty, negotiations should be completed by Monday or Tuesday.

Rovers have still not ruled out the possibility of doing the signing on the pitch ahead of the game against Liverpool on Wednesday night.

In the meantime, assistant boss Tony Parkes described Matt Jansen's progress as 'miraculous' as the Rovers striker continues to battle back from injury.

Jansen suffered horrific head injuries in a summer motorbike accident and there were fears for his playing career.

However, the 24-year-old has confounded the specialists with the speed of his recovery, and although he is still not allowed to head a ball, he has started training with the reserve team in a bid to return at the end of October.

"We are all surprised at how he has come back," said Parkes.

"I suppose you could say it's a miraculous recovery.

"On the occasions he came down here over the summer Matt was staggering about and couldn't even walk properly.

"But he has worked hard with his doctors and physios and has gone on from strength to strength.

"Now he has started training with the reserves to get his fitness levels up a bit.

"When he comes back full-time that will be another test but it looks as though he is going to improve again.

"Obviously, his overall aim is to get back in the first team but he needs to get himself fully fit first and then we can take it from there."

Before his accident, Jansen was one of the most coveted young players in the English game.

But when he does get back to full fitness, he faces a fight for his place following the summer arrival of Dwight Yorke.