EXCLUSIVE by PETER WHITE

MAREK Citko is on his way to Ewood after Blackburn Rovers agreed a deal, believed to be worth around £2.75 million, with Polish champions Widzew Lodz.

The international star - the only man to score against England in the present World Cup qualifying campaign - is in Spain with Widzew Lodz at the moment.

But he is expected to travel to England later this week for talks on personal terms and the usual medicals.

Rovers also have to sort out a work permit and that application will be made with some urgency.

The Poles are on their winter break at the moment and have travelled to Spain for training and friendlies.

They are due to play Real Betis in Seville on Wednesday night.

But Rovers are likely to get Citko pulled out of that game and bring him to Blackburn as soon as possible. If they can settle personal terms and the medicals, the only obstacle will be the work permit.

And Citko should have no problem qualifying on that score.

Having broken into the Polish team and scored against England at Wembley in October, the 22-year-old has established himself as a regular member of their squad. As we revealed on Saturday, he was due to link up with the national squad later this month.

Permits can take a couple of weeks to process but, fortunately, Rovers aren't due to play again until Saturday week when they should stage their deferred FA Cup fourth round tie against either Coventry or Woking.

Citko is highly rated in Poland, with his manager at Widzew Lodz describing him as the new Zbigniew Boniek - one of the greatest Polish players of all time.

They were determined to keep Citko until the end of their Champions' League campaign, in which he scored against Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid.

Initially, the asking price was £4 million and they refused a Rovers bid to take him on extended loan.

But the patience shown by Ewood chairman Robert Coar in lengthy negotiations seems to have paid off with a substantially reduced fee having been agreed. If personal terms can now be sorted out, Rovers should give their squad a major boost at a crucial stage in the season.

Citko will bring an extra edge to competition for places in attack and should add more goal power.

That's what has been missing so far, with few worries about the defensive record but not enough goals having been scored.

Rovers have had a sneak preview of Citko's ability, when they were allowed to bring him to Ewood for a couple of days training.

Caretaker-boss Tony Parkes will welcome his arrival, describing him as "quick, strong and a player who likes to take people on."

Parkes has been leading the search for a striker all over Europe and he added: "It's a position we want to strengthen because we think it will help the cause.

"Scoring goals has been the big problem."

Parkes was delighted by Saturday's win over West Ham which gave Rovers significant breathing space in the relegation battle and he added: "We aren't due to play a League game for three weeks. But at least we can enjoy looking at the table during that time."

David Dunn and Martin Rimmer scored for the B team in their 2-0 win at Bury.

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