BLACKBURN boss Mark Hughes made an audacious bid to sign Arsenal whizz-kid Theo Walcott.

The Rovers chief contacted the Gunners to check on the teenager's availability earlier this week, after being alerted to the possibility that he might have been allowed out on loan.

But Hughes' hopes of bringing the 18-year-old to Ewood until the end of the season were dashed by Arsene Wenger, who made it clear he was not prepared to loan out the England international - or any other of his fringe players for that matter.

The Rovers chief, who is scouring Europe for new faces to freshen up his squad, said: "There was talk in the papers that he (Walcott) might be going out on loan but our understanding is that he won't be.

"We are always looking to bring in good players, and if we are told that there are situations which might allow good players to become available, then we are always interested.

"That was the case with Walcott, but we were told that it was unlikely he'd be going out of the club."

The idea of Walcott being loaned out was first mooted in some of the national papers earlier this week, after Wenger said the former Southampton star was not developing as quickly as he had hoped.

However, the Arsenal boss maintains he needs all of his squad as the Gunners enter a crucial phase of the season - especially given Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Eboue and Alex Song are all away at the African Nations Cup, while striker Robin van Persie remains sidelined.

When asked yesterday whether anyone would be allowed to go out on loan following the club's Carling Cup exit, he replied curtly: "No, because we are very short.

"We have 17 players at the moment, and you could see with the players who were on the bench at Tottenham that they should not have been on the bench there."

Hughes must now look elsewhere in his efforts to strengthen the squad before next week's deadline, and he expects that search to gather pace over the next few days.

"There's still time yet. I think from now until the end of the window, it's going to start to heat up. It usually does," said the Rovers boss.

"A number of deals are waiting on other deals to be finalised so other people can then get the money in and spend what they've generated.

"So I think towards the end of the window, other situations like that will start to move."