Chelsea likely to make a third move for Duff

BLACKBURN are bracing themselves for a third Chelsea bid for Damien Duff after rejecting two previous offers in three days this week.

Chelsea will have to top £17million to get the chance to even talk to Blackburn's superstar over a move to Stamford Bridge. But Rovers chief executive John Williams admitted: "It could soon be out of our hands."

Blackburn have revealed they've rejected two bids from the West Londoners for the Irish winger, but neither came close to

the £17m clause in the players' four-year contract signed only last summer that would mean Rovers have to allow Duff to talk terms.

It is believed Chelsea's bids were around £12m and £15m, which meant Rovers were within their rights to say no. Liverpool and Manchester United have both been trying to sign Duff all summer but the £17m release clause was way higher than either club valued the player.

The Anfield club have now signed Harry Kewell, beating United to the punch on a £5m move while United are still trying to net Ronaldinho.

Rovers chief executive Williams said: "We've had two bids from Chelsea and we've rejected both. We don't want Damien to go, we hope he stays. But there is a clause in his contract which we negotiated 12 months ago and if Chelsea meet the requirement of that clause then it's out of our hands.

"Damien is then entitled to speak to any club who meets that requirement and it would then be his decision."

Rovers quickly rejected the first bid from Chelsea on Tuesday but the Londoners came back in with a new, improved offer on Thursday.

That still fell short of the release figure written into Duff's contract. But Rovers would be powerless to block a move if the bid was increased by another £2m, which seems more than possible considering the spending power of Chelsea's new Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich.

"We won't accept any bids which are short of the clause in the contract," said Williams. "It depends how serious Chelsea are about wanting to sign him. If conditions are met with the bid naturally we would be obliged to let Damien talk to Chelsea, or any other club who met them and the decision would rest with the player."

Chelsea have been linked with several top stars since the arrival of Abramovich at Stamford Bridge.

Juventus claimed to have turned down an approach for Edgar Davids yesterday while Inter Milan declared they had rejected a bid for Christian Vieri.

But Real Madrid yesterday agreed a £6.9m fee with Chelsea for midfielder Geremi, West Ham have accepted a £6m offer for Glen Johnson but Southampton have rejected a move for Wayne Bridge.

Meanwhile, Williams confirmed Lorenzo Amoruso is poised to complete his switch to Blackburn.

Williams said he expects Rangers' Italian defender to put the finishing touches to his Ewood Park switch soon. Williams, who also hopes Slovakian international full-back Vlatislav Gresko will follow Brett Emerton and Amoruso to the club soon, continued: "We are rebuilding all the time.

"We've done well since our return to the Premier League, and we're looking forward to improving our squad. There are one or two players on the periphery we would be happy to sell if we got an appropriate offer but there are no players we have at the club who we want to leave."