BLACKBURN Rovers are adamant that Chris Sutton will not be allowed to quit Ewood Park on the cheap, writes PETER WHITE.

The club's position was underlined by Rovers today, despite the fact that no-one has so far come up with a firm offer, let alone the £12 million fee on their star striker's head.

Chief executive John Williams indicated today that Rovers would be prepared to negotiate with interested clubs about the fee.

But I believe Rovers will put a bottom line on any transfer, with talks starting at a minimum of £10 million.

They will also consider part-exchange deals, depending on whether players offered are suitable to manager Brian Kidd.

If that was the case then the size of the fee would be fudged by their value in any deal.

The chase for Sutton has yet to take off after he triggered an escape clause in his contract. The clause also imposed a certain fee, understood to be £12 million.

"We have told Chris and his agent that there is always room for manouevre," said the chief executive.

"But all parties thought that the clause was reasonable or no-one would have signed it."

With Gordon Strachan talking about Coventry City striker Darren Huckerby being worth £8 million and, compared to other deals over the past couple of years, £12 million for a 26-year-old England international looks like the going rate.

But, while Chelsea, Spurs and Aston Villa are thought to be very interested, they have not yet turned that into a firm offer. Arsenal could also join the hunt as manager Arsene Wenger admitted today that he is looking for two new strikers, following the departure of Kaba Diawara.

If clubs fail to meet the asking price set by the escape clause, or even Rovers' 'bottom line', it will leave both player and club in a tricky position.

Will they have to go against their word and sell Sutton at a bargain basement price? Or will the striker have to accept that demand is not as high as expected and be forced to take on the challenge of winning promotion from the First Division next season?

Meanwhile, Leicester City are expected to consider a bid for goalkeeper Tim Flowers if Kasey Keller quits Filbert Street this summer.

Keller is coming to the end of his contract and it is anticipated he will take advantage of Bosman to move on.

Flowers would represent an experienced replacement for him but, while Leicester might be able to afford the fee, wages could prove a stumbling block.

Apart from Leicester, Aston Villa are understood to be the only club to have shown any interest in the England international. Villa are on the point of losing Mark Bosnich - another player out of contract - to Manchester United.

That will leave them with only one experienced keeper in Michael Oakes. The fee and wages would not be a problem for Villa. But Flowers might not be able to claim the first team football he wants at Villa Park.

A report that Rovers tried to re-sign Colin Hendry from Rangers to help stave off relegation last season was dismissed out of hand by John Williams today.

The chief executive said: "You will always get talk like this about a player such as Colin Hendry. But we never had any dialogue with Colin, or with Rangers, about him coming back.

Rovers officially confirmed today that physio Dave Fevre would be joining them from Manchester United.

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