Jon Dahl Tomasson couldn’t say if anything was official regarding Ben Brereton’s future.

Brereton is set to join Villarreal on a long-term contract when his Rovers deal expires in the summer after extensive talks this month.

The likelihood of such a deal has been on the cards for some time, with Brereton happy to see out the season at Ewood Park after Rovers turned down offers in the summer for the 23-year-old.

A five-year deal is thought to be on the table for Brereton, however, the Lancashire Telegraph understands that Rovers are yet to receive confirmation that a deal has been agreed, even though the expectation is it will be.

Rovers took up the one-year options in Brereton’s contract in June, but haven’t since been able to strike an agreement on an extended stay.

That has enabled overseas clubs to hold talks with the Chile international this month about a pre-contract agreement that would take effect from this summer.

Tomasson has continued to stress that Brereton’s focus is on Rovers, and had no hesitation about selecting him in the FA Cup tie with Birmingham City.

The head coach is no stranger to Villarreal having spent 18 months at the club between January 2007 and July 2008, in which time they finished second in La Liga and competed in the UEFA Cup where he scored five goals in eight appearances.

“I can’t say if anything is official yet, maybe later on other people can say that,” Tomasson said.

“I don’t think it’s official, I haven’t heard it yet from Villarreal.

“If it should be Villarreal then they’re a great club.

“I’m not the coach for Villarreal, I’m the coach of Rovers, so let’s wait and see.

“We all know that he’ll do a good job for Blackburn, do his best.

“I can’t say if anything is official yet, maybe later on other people can say that.

“I have had the question more than 1,000 times and that’s understandable because he’s an important player for us, a great lad to work with.

“Let’s wait and see.

“The only thing is that Ben is happy to be a Rovers player at the moment and that’s the most important thing.”

Brereton is now without a goal in 10 games and hasn’t found the net since the World Cup break.

He missed an excellent chance to open the scoring in Rovers’ 1-1 draw at Bristol City and also had four attempts in the FA Cup tie, including a one-on-one opportunity that he put wide of the target.

Asked about his wait for a goal, Tomasson said: “First of all he gets chances.

“He got chances last week, got chances again, and on a good day he probably scores as well.

“Hopefully we get that scoring Ben back soon because we of course need that quality, that quality to score goals.

“Every team is chasing players who score goals, some teams have lots of those players, so it’s important for us that Ben scores goals for us.”