MARTIN Dahlin looks to be on his way out of Ewood Park, with Blackburn Rovers having made the Swedish striker an offer to pay off the remaining year of his contract.

Dahlin, who was signed for £1.6 million from Roma two years ago, has been on extended loan to Bundesliga club Hamburg since last October.

But the Germans decided some time ago not to take up an option to buy.

That loan deal officially ends today and Ewood chief executive John Williams confirmed that it looked as though Dahlin would be leaving Rovers "by mutual agreement".

Williams added: "We have made him an offer to end his contract and we are now waiting for an answer."

If the player accepts the deal offered to him, it is uncertain what he will do next.

He has been plagued by back problems, which re-occurred during his stint with Hamburg, and there have not been any inquiries for him from any other clubs.

Dahlin, now 31, was one of former manager Roy Hodgson's biggest flops after arriving at Ewood with a top reputation.

He struggled from the start, with injury problems in the 1997 pre-season programme, and had to settle for a place on the substitutes' bench. In his first Ewood season, he started only 11 Premiership games, though made nearly as many appearances as a substitute and scored four League goals.

Last season, he was hardly ever in the picture. He made just two full Premiership appearances and, in the second, was sent off at Everton in September for spitting at an opponent.

Dahlin did not start another game for the club and, shortly afterwards, was allowed to go on loan to Hamburg until the end of the season.

They had an option to buy him for £500,000 but declined and that deal ends at midnight tonight.

It seems likely he will accept the club's offer as there is clearly no future for him at Ewood under Brian Kidd.

Meanwhile, Rovers will not now feature on Sky TV against Charlton at The Valley on Sunday, October 10.

It was a surprise when Sky selected the game for 'live' screening in the first place, as it falls on an international weekend and, in all probability, the fixture will be postponed.

Instead, the cameras will take Burnley's home game against Scunthorpe. Another Rovers fixture which seems likely to need a new date is the game at Swindon on Saturday, September 4. That too clashes with an international programme.

Even though they are no longer in the Premiership, Rovers still boast a number of current internationals, especially with the Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. Neither game, however, has yet been officially postponed.

Although clubs are allowed to apply for games to be called off if they have three international players on duty, the Football League stick to the letter of the law as regards timing.

As international selections cannot be anticipated it means Rovers will probably have to wait until the respective squads are announced before asking for a postponement.

There is also the point that, with a big squad, there could be occasions when Kidd will opt to go ahead with a League game even if he has a few players missing.

That could help to avoid any potential fixture pile-ups.

David Wetherall was expected to complete a £2 million move from Leeds to Premiership new boys Bradford today. Rovers had shown some interest in the central defender but had not gone as far as making a bid.

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