NORTH Korea’s very own Wayne Rooney has been on Blackburn Rovers’ radar for the past nine months – and the club have promised to continue to monitor his future progress.

Jong Tae-Se captured the hearts of the footballing world with an energetic display in his country’s 2-1 defeat to Brazil in their World Cup opener on Tuesday night – but Rovers were already well aware of the striker’s talents.

The 26-year-old spent a week on trial at Rovers’ Brockhall training centre at the start of February and, while showing glimpses of his potential, returned to Japanese club Kawasaki Frontale in the J-League.

Rovers though have told Jong’s representatives they will monitor his situation, with the start to his World Cup adventure bound to attract a host of other suitors.

For the moment though, Rovers boss Sam Allardyce is targeting a more proven answer to his search for added fire power for the new Premier League season.

The Rovers boss’ transfer efforts suffered a setback on Tuesday when Vince Grella’s proposed £2million move to Galatasaray broke down – leaving him between two to three million pounds in his cash pot.

There is no panic yet though and Rovers are hopeful more funds could be generated within the next few weeks with a number of the club’s fringe players possibly moving on.

The club are already reflecting on an encouraging start to the summer having kept the services of Morten Gamst Pedersen and securing home-grown starlet Phil Jones on a longer contract.

They have always said they don’t expect to conduct much business before the start of the new campaign, with just one striker possibly the extent of their wish-list.

The club aren’t about to rush into signing a player ‘for the sake of it’ and will continue working to ensure they bring in the best player possible for their available budget.

While Jong impressed during his brief stay he is unlikely to be seen as a realistic solution, with Rovers not able to afford to gamble on an inexperienced talent.

The North Korean though admits it is his dream to one day play in the Premier League and reveals Blackburn Rovers would be a favoured destination.

He said: “I want to play in England.

"When I was at high school, Italy's Serie A was the most popular league but with the help of cable television, I started watching English football and I really enjoyed the stadiums, the atmosphere and the passion.

"Years ago, I used to train wearing a Blackburn Rovers shirt.

“"In Japan, there were not many people wearing Blackburn shirts.

"I just went to the shop and bought one because I liked it.”