ITALIAN striker Ciccio Grabbi will report back for pre-season training with Blackburn next week after Serie B side Messina have abandoned plans to sign him permanently.

The former Juventus star, who joined Rovers in a £6.75 million deal from Ternana last summer, recently saved the struggling Sicilian club from relegation to Serie C with a dramatic two-goal salvo on the last day of the season during a successful loan spell back in his homeland.

However, any prospect of a long-term move back to Italy for the 26-year-old frontman now appears to have been dashed -- for the time being at least -- after Messina declined the chance to buy him permanently before their option ran out on June 30.

"As things stand, Ciccio will be reporting back for pre-season training with everyone else," said chief executive John Williams.

"We were pleased to see that he did well with Messina at the back end of last season and we hope that he can continue that goalscoring ability when he comes back to England.

"I know Graeme still thinks he's a player and he's never changed that belief.

"So we'll be doing our utmost to make sure that the domestic arrangements we make for him are as good as they possibly can be so that he can concentrate on playing his football."

Big things were expected of Grabbi last season following his move from Serie B but he failed to live up to those expectations as he struggled to come to terms with life in England.

A foot injury picked up pre-season training coupled with the birth of his first child disrupted his first couple of months at Ewood and he never recovered, scoring just two goals in 12 starts, before manager Graeme Souness finally sanctioned a loan move back to Italy in a bid to help him rediscover his confidence.

However, despite saving Messina from relegation with three goals in his last two games, that has failed to attract interest from other clubs in Italy.

So now he will return to England desperate to prove he can still cut it in the Premiership when Rovers report back on July 10.