BLACKBURN Rovers today made a sensational £4 million bid for Eric Cantona.

The offer was tabled to Manchester United as an indication of Jack Walker's intentions to put Rovers back on top of the Premier League.

Ewood chairman Robert Coar made the bid to Old Trafford this morning and it will startle the soccer world after a summer of speculation in which the national media have talked about little else but Alan Shearer going to United.

Mr Walker, "incensed" by some of the stories which have been doing the rounds and eager to show Rovers supporters that he is deadly serious about taking the club back to the pinnacle of English football, didn't mince his words.

He told me: "We want to win the title again. That means we need a strong squad and I see Cantona as an important piece to complete the jigsaw. In the coming season, we will have Chris Sutton back in the squad after months out with injury. He is back in full training and champing at the bit and will have a very important role to play.

"Jason Wilcox is back too, after working very hard to overcome a long-term injury and both Ian Pearce and Graeme Le Saux are making good progress.

"We want all our players fit and available and this is the strongest squad we have ever had.

"I am absolutely fed up of reading all these stories. We want the very best players at Ewood Park. Why not Eric Cantona?"

The offer will stun soccer but Mr Walker has long made his intentions clear. He wants Rovers to be top dogs, at home and abroad, both now and in the future.

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