GRAEME Le Saux was put up for sale by Blackburn Rovers today with a £7.5 million price tag on his head, writes PETER WHITE.

And that is set to spark a transfer chase by some of Europe's top clubs, with Arsenal expected to lead the way in a bid to sign the current England left back.

Chelsea manager Ruud Gullit could also be interested and Atletico Madrid and Juventus will lead the overseas race for the player.

It is an inevitable outcome to an unsavoury saga which has dragged on since before the end of last season when Le Saux was dropped.

And he finally put in a written transfer request, which has been granted.

His heart clearly hasn't been at the club for some time but new manager Roy Hodgson did his best to persuade Le Saux that things were going to be different.

When that failed, he left it to the club to decide what to do in their best interests.

Today, Rovers issued a brief statement, revealing that Le Saux's written request had been put in yesterday at noon.

They said: "The board have decided it is in the best interests of Blackburn Rovers to grant the request, provided the club receives an offer reaching their valuation.

"Having due regard to recent transfer activity, the board have placed a valuation of £7.5 million on Graeme Le Saux."

Rovers are looking at the kind of money which saw Paul Merson go to Middlesbrough for £5 million and Les Ferdinand to Spurs for £6 million, despite his age.

In view of that, they believe £7.5 million is a realistic valuation of the player who cost them just a few hundred thousand pounds when he came from Chelsea in 1993. A parting of the ways has been on the cards for some time.

Many Rovers fans turned on Le Saux towards the end of last season, especially after his display in the game against Manchester United.

Despite Hodgson's efforts to convince him otherwise, the player has clearly remained adamant that a move would be in his own best interests.

Le Saux was left out of Saturday's trip to West Brom, staying behind for training at Brockhall instead.

And the manager revealed today that he would not be going with the team to Aberdeen for tomorrow night's pre-season friendly at Pittodrie.

The saga needed a decisive twist and Rovers were probably waiting for Le Saux to put his intentions in writing and now they have responded.

While the fans will be sorry to lose a player of Le Saux's undoubted talents, they were becoming disillusioned with the situation.

Arsenal have been linked with the player all summer and are expected to be the front-runners for his signature.

But the Gunners are refusing to comment on Le Saux, although Wenger claims, in general, he is happy with his defence.

"We're happy to concentrate on the players we have and we think we have the quality we need," said today. "We're not far away from the start of the competition and we don't want to disturb the team with all these rumours."

Tomorrow's transfer tribunal to decide the fee for Shay Given's move to Newcastle has been postponed at the Tyneside club's request. Newcastle are under pressure to strengthen their squad before this week's European Cup deadline, following the loss of Alan Sherarer and Les Ferdinand.

Rovers are giving trials to former Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Lance Key. The much-travelled keeper is out of contract and Rovers are looking for temporary experienced cover until Tim Flowers is fit.

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