BLACKBURN Rovers today denied making a last-ditch bid to sign Arsenal winger Robert Pires.
A story in one of today's tabloids claimed Rovers manager Mark Hughes made an 11th hour bid to hijack Pires' proposed move to Villarreal.
Hughes, and Bolton manager Sam Allardyce, were both reported to have offered the Frenchman a deal worth £50,000 a week in an attempt to persuade him to stay in the Premiership.
But Rovers' chairman, John Williams, insists the story has no foundation, and he claims that no contact has been made between the club and Pires' representatives.
"There's nothing in that at all," said Williams.
"His name has never been mentioned by Mark and his staff, and to my knowledge no-one at Blackburn has had a conversation with Robert or his people."
Pires is available on a free this summer after failing to agree a new contract with Arsenal, but it now looks as though he will move to Spain, with Champions League semi-finalists Villarreal his likely destination.
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