TEENAGE Norwegian star John Carew aims to introduce himself to English football tonight by helping Valerenga give Chelsea a king-size headache in their European Cup Winners' Cup quarter-final clash.

Yet, if things had worked out a little differently, the giant striker could already have made his mark at Stamford Bridge - playing for Blackburn Rovers.

Carew, who stands well over six-feet tall and has a giant-sized talent to match, is said to be on the wanted list of some of the world's biggest clubs. But some Rovers fans will remember a then-unknown schoolboy scoring a hat-trick for the A team, before taking part in a remarkable reserve game at Ewood during two trial spells in the 1996-97 season.

Jim Furnell, in charge of youth development at the time, will be taking a close interest in Carew tonight, after putting in a lot of effort to try to bring him to Ewood.

It was another Norwegian star, Henning Berg, who recommended Carew, still a 17-year-old schoolboy when he came to Blackburn for trials.

Ironically, Berg is now with Manchester United who are said to be one of many clubs tracking his progress.

"He came over to England for a brief spell and scored a superb hat-trick for the A team," said Furnell.

"And then he came back again and should have had five or six goals when he played a reserve match."

That was in January 1997 when the youngster played against Leeds Reserves and surprised people by the number of scoring opportunities he had in the match.

It was enough for Rovers to try to sign him.

Furnell recalled: "If we had gone crazy with the money, we may have been able to sign him but it was a huge package for a schoolboy who was not proven and that's probably why he didn't go to any other clubs at the time.

"In the end, he and his family decided that he would be better off staying on in Norway to continue his education. That was probably the deciding factor."

One other thing Carew did decide was to move up from Lorenskog IF to Valerenga to continue his football education as well. It seems to have paid off as he is emerging as one of the hottest young prospects in European football, as Chelsea could find out tonight. As well as power and pace, the 19-year-old art college student has bags of ability and has already made the breakthrough into Norway's full international side.

He is under contract with his club until June of next year and will be on the move by then, if not before, with Italy's Serie A the favourite destination for the player.

Carew has already turned down the chance of joining Perugia and is looking for a 'big' club.

Having told his agent that his first choice is Italy, a host of English clubs who will be watching tonight could be wasting their time.

Newcastle, when Kenny Dalglish was manager, showed an interest in him and Manchester United are also reported to have watched the youngster. Having turned his back on the Premiership once with Rovers, he could be ready to do so again.

But not before he has given Chelsea a taste of what English football is missing in tonight's first leg at Stamford Bridge.

French World Cup-winning centre-back Frank Leboeuf is Chelsea's only revealed fitness doubt after hobbling off against Liverpool last Saturday.

Fit again Michael Duberry stands by as a possible replacement, but Vialli is almost certain to recall captain Dennis Wise who is still finishing a four-match domestic ban and misses Sunday's Old Trafford date.

Valerenga, though, face the match with a new goalkeeper from Finland, Mikko Kaven - an emergency signing after Tore Kjonhault, who usually captains the side, suffered a back injury in Spain.

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