Blackburn resigned to losing midfield star Dunn

BLACKBURN have revealed midfielder David Dunn does not see his long-term future at Ewood Park after turning down the opportunity of a new contract with the club.

Rovers chief executive John Williams held talks with the England player regarding the possibility of extending his current deal, which still has two years left to run but the 23-year-old declined the offer.

Dunn fell out with boss Graeme Souness this season and the manager said he was willing to let the midfielder go if a suitable bid came in. But Souness has denied reports Dunn was given a 'sign or leave' ultimatum during talks at the weekend.

Souness said: "That's totally unfair. No-one has told him he has to leave at all. What we have done is ask him if he would be willing to sign a new contract and he's said 'no' he won't.

"So the reality is we've offered him an extension. I'm under no pressure to make a decision. I want him in the squad for next year and it will be in everyone's interests if he starts next season here and does well for us."

Souness, whose team finished sixth in the table to ensure UEFA Cup football again next season, continued: "We'd be very reluctant sellers if it ever came to losing David. We've just had a great season and we'd be foolish to think we can't do any better than that. So I'm not about to sell off my best players if I can help it."

Dunn was asked if he would be prepared to extend his stay beyond the remaining two years of his contract and he said "no".

"There was no mention of the length of contract or money," said Souness. "John Williams simply asked him if he was prepared to sign a new deal and he said 'no' and that was the end of it."

Leeds have meanwhile accepted Roma's offer to make midfielder Olivier Dacourt's loan move to the Serie A club permanent, say the Italian side. The 28-year-old Frenchman, who was off-loaded to the Giallorossi this year, has agreed personal terms. Roma sporting director Franco Baldini said: "We received the fax from Leeds yesterday afternoon and it's going to take a couple of days to ratify the transfer."

Roma confirmed the amount is slightly lower than the £4.2m originally wanted by Leeds.

Elsewhere, Charlton defender Radostin Kishishev has stunned Bulgaria coach Plamen Markov by announcing his retirement from the international football. Kishishev said being snubbed for the captain's armband helped make up his mind.

National skipper Krasimir Balakov retired after a 2-0 victory over Albania in April but his armband was passed on to Celtic's Stilian Petrov after Markov asked the players to name the successor.