Reid ponders replacing Duff at Ewood

STEVEN REID insists he will take his time before deciding whether to join Blackburn.

Millwall last night reluctantly gave the Republic of Ireland winger permission to talk to Rovers, although the First Division side have not yet accepted any bid for their player.

Blackburn boss Graeme Souness has been handed a transfer kitty following the departures of David Dunn to Birmingham and Monday’s £17m sale of Damien Duff to Chelsea, and will now try to persuade the 22-year-old his future lies at Ewood Park.

“This is a good opportunity for me to go and talk to them and see what they have to say,” Reid said. “There has been a lot of speculation, but something’s happened and now I’m either staying at Millwall or I’m not.”

He added: “I’ve been at Millwall for 11 years and it’s a long time. I’ve never really been away from London for more than a month or so, so it would be a big upheaval if I was to go and it’s going to be the most difficult decision of my life.

“The chairman and manager have made it clear that they don’t want me to go, so there’s no pressure on me to leave the club. It’s a decision I’m going to think long and hard about and hopefully make the right one.”

Reid is a product of the Lion’s youth programme and made his senior debut for against Bournemouth in May 1998 when he was 17. He was capped by England at U16 level, but chose to go on and represent the Republic, qualifying through a grandparent.

Mick McCarthy called him into the World Cup squad last summer, where Reid, who can play on either wing or at full-back, played against Cameroon and Germany. However, he missed the start of last season with an ankle problem and then suffered a knee injury in April which ruled him out for the remainder of the campaign.

Reid returned to play in the Euro 2004 qualifier against Albania at Lansdowne Road in June, and Millwall are in no hurry to let one of their prized assets leave the New Den.

“We have always been upfront with Steven and told him we would keep him informed of any serious approach from a Premiership club,” chairman Theo Paphitis said. “Blackburn have made an improved offer and Steven has been given our permission to talk to them. This has been done reluctantly, but having given our word to him, we’re honour-bound to keep it.

“Obviously we don’t want Reidy to leave, but the decision is now up to him and his advisors.”

Blackburn have already spent part of the £5.5m they received for Dunn on landing Vratislav Gresko on a permanent deal as well as Lorenzo Amoruso and Australian international Brett Emerton. And the move for Reid is not likely to be the last transfer move before the new season kicks off on August 16 against Wolves. Yesterday Rovers’ chief executive John Williams said: “You can expect to see two, maybe three players arriving at Ewood Park. They will be the kind of players that Graeme Souness will see as improving the team. So big is this deal that not only can we address our overdraft we also have the cash to spend at a time when cash is king.

“When you are running a challenging side in the Premier League from the demographics of a small town, inevitably debts do occur. This is a great opportunity to reduce these debts and enable us to bring financial security to the club for the foreseeable future.”