Rovers close on Kalinic

Pompey set to miss out on Croatian striker

Last updated: 2nd August 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Rovers close on Kalinic

Kalinic: Set to join Rovers

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Blackburn Rovers are closing on the signing of Nikola Kalinic after agreeing a fee with the Croatian striker's club Hajduk Split.

Kalinic had been lined up for a £6million move to Portsmouth only for the deal to collapse over how the fee would be paid.

Pompey boss Paul Hart was not giving up on a deal for the 21-year-old, but he now appears to be on his way to Ewood Park.

Sam Allardyce confirmed after Blackburn's 2-2 draw with Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday that he is hoping to bring in Kalinic.

"We are trying really hard," said the Rovers boss in the Sunday Mirror. "It's not just him. We hope to get another one in if we can."

True star

Kalinic's agent Tomislav Erceg is expecting the young hot shot to join Blackburn after confirming a deal with Pompey is now off.

Erceg said in The News: "When we arrived in Portsmouth on Tuesday, they told us to wait until Friday morning. We didn't want them to play games with us so we decided to leave straight away for London.

"In the meantime, we received a concrete offer from Blackburn, who were since the beginning interested. So we immediately left London for Blackburn.

"They greeted Kalinic like a true star. They are expecting big things from him this season."

Hajduk Split president Mate Peros said: "Blackburn was the best one of all the offers we have received to date.

"Very quickly we finished the talks with the club."