Blackburn missed out on a deal for Ivelin Popov because they did not receive any bids for Jason Roberts.
Roberts attracted no bids in summer transfer market
Blackburn Rovers missed out on a deal for striker Ivelin Popov because they did not receive any bids for Jason Roberts, according to chairman John Williams.
Former Litex Lovech forward Popov was on trial at Ewood Park in August and Sam Allardyce was keen on signing the 22-year-old.
Popov has since joined Turkish outfit Gaziantepspor and Rovers have previously denied that they did not complete the deal because of work permit issues.
Williams has set the record straight by revealing that the signing was not finalised because Roberts could not be offloaded and Rovers did not want to have five strikers.
The Blackburn chairman told the
Lancashire Telegraph: "We were expecting a bid for Jason Roberts.
Option
"We were confident he would be fit and ready to fight for his place if he was still with us, but deep down I think we wanted a move.
"The problem was we couldn't let him go without a replacement.
"Four strikers are needed. We covered our position with Ivelin Popov ready to come to Rovers.
"His club knew the deal was dependent on Jason leaving but in the end no bid came."
He added: "Five strikers was never going to be an option, nor was letting Jason leave on a free."
