WHILE the headlines were taken by the transfers that did happen on deadline day, Blackburn Rovers boss Steve Kean was equally satisfied by one that did not take place.

Rovers brought in Scott Dann, Yakubu and Jordan Slew in the hour before Wednesday’s 11pm deadline but just as pleasing was the news that the window shut with key defender Chris Samba still at the club.

Samba’s future had been the subject of real concern among fans for some months, with Arsenal and Tottenham long linked with the giant centre back.

The 27-year-old had made no secret of the fact that he would like to join a club competing at the top end of the Premier League should the opportu-nity arise.

Many initially wondered whether Rovers’ £6m move for Birmingham central defender Dann meant Samba was about to depart but Kean insisted yesterday that no such exit was ever in the offing.

In fact the Rovers boss revealed no offers arrived for Samba, who signed a new four-and-a-half-year deal in January.

“There’s been speculation that this club and that club were going to be coming in for him but we never had any bids and we were delighted with that because we wanted him to stay,” said Kean.

“I think people probably looked at Scott’s signing and thought I’m going to sign Scott because Chris is on his way.

“Even better for us, we’ve signed Scott with the quailty he’s got and we’ve kept Chris.

“I’ve always said Chris has committed himself to a long-term contract at the club and hopefully he’s going to see his contract out.”

Rovers had voiced their intent to resist bids that came their way for Samba – a policy that could potentially have left the club with an unhappy player.

But Kean hopes the fact that they never had an offer to reject means the defender will now be in a good state of mind to produce his best displays in the months to come, having informed Samba of the situation on the night of the deadline.

The Rovers boss said yesterday: “I spoke to him last night late on the phone and said, ‘We’ve had no bids for you big fella and I’m delighted about that, let’s get back in and get back at it again’.

“I think it will help his focus because there have always been rumours and there’s been no secret that there are certain clubs who said they were going to come in for him and possibly he had that in his mind himself.

“But it never materalised, he’s still a Blackburn Rovers player and that’s fantastic for us.”

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