BLACKBURN Rovers have opened talks with Manchester United about a club record move for England hot-shot Andy Cole.

As we revealed yesterday, manager Graeme Souness is ready to launch an £8 million bid for the 30-year-old star after Rovers have now officially registered their interest at boardroom level.

Talks are currently thought to be at a delicate stage as United's power brokers decide whether or not they can afford to let the former Newcastle man go.

But Souness is hoping to get the green light later today to open talks with the player and his representatives over the weekend.

"The two clubs are currently talking but we should have a better idea of where we are up to by the end of today," said Souness.

"So we are in for him now and if we can make it happen then we would love to do that.

"We know where we are strong and where we are weak and the obvious area where we are struggling at the minute is we don't score enough goals.

"We do create chances and we feel we haven't been taking anywhere near enough of them this season.

"At the end of the day goals change games and they make the difference between losing and drawing games we should be winning. There can be games where you are not playing particularly well but if you have an out and out poacher who can grab you a goal then he can nick you the points.

"Andy has got a great track record in the Premier League, he is second only to Alan Shearer, and if we could get him here then he would be a tremendous asset to this football club. We have been trying many, many avenues to get a striker in who would fit the bill and Andy Cole is certainly that.

"We are always trying to bring the best players available into this club and it's my belief that Andy is in that category."

If Rovers are given permission to talk to the player then Souness will have to smash the club's wage structure in order to lure him away from Old Trafford.

Cole recently signed a new deal with United -- believed to be worth around £45,000 a week -- and Souness will have to come up with a similar offer to tempt him to Ewood.

Publicly, the England striker insists he wants to stay and fight for his place at United after slipping down the pecking order in the wake of Ruud Van Nistelrooy's arrival from PSV Eindhoven during the summer.

But privately, Cole is thought to be ready to move on in a bid to win a dream ticket to next summer's World Cup and at a club like Rovers he knows he would be guaranteed regular first team football.

Although any move for Cole would dwarf any previous transfer deal conducted by Rovers, Ewood's money men are ready to back Souness to the hilt as he looks to steer the club away from danger.

Chief executive John Williams is likely to play a crucial role in any negotiations and he laid a lot of the groundwork yesterday during discussions with his United counterpart, Peter Kenyon.

"I've had a preliminary discussion with Peter Kenyon where we registered our interest but whether we can progress from there remains to be seen," said Williams.