Hughes still keen on Mido move

Blackburn boss Mark Hughes is holding out hope that striker Mido will move to Ewood Park.

But the former Wales manager admits he has been amazed by the drawn-out process of trying to sign the Egyptian from Italian side Roma.

Mido spent 18 months on loan at Tottenham who decided against making the move permanent at the end of last season, signing Dimitar Berbatov instead.

The 23-year-old seems set to leave Roma this summer, and Blackburn are in the market for a striker after Craig Bellamy left to sign for Liverpool.

Mido appears to top their list of candidates to replace Bellamy, and Hughes said today: “Yes, it’s still a possibility.”

He added: “It has dragged on an inordinate length of time and it’s the longest transfer I have been involved in, but we’ll keep going.

“It has not come to a conclusion as yet. If it doesn’t happen we will look at other targets.”

Blackburn may be forced to look elsewhere if they cannot close out the Mido deal soon, but Hughes refused to discuss potential alternative targets.

Fenerbahce striker Nicolas Anelka claims to have been in contact with Hughes, but the Rovers boss was tight-lipped on the link to the Frenchman, who also interests Portsmouth.

Mido remains a priority signing, but speaking on Sky Sports News, Hughes explained the complicated current situation.

“It has been difficult,” he said.

“There have been lots of issues we have had to address. We are still hopeful.”

Hughes is trying to remain positive but added: “It changes from day to day. Yesterday I was probably more hopeful than I was today.”

The Rovers boss, 42, is almost two years into the job at Ewood Park and, spurred by Bellamy, Blackburn finished sixth last season in the Barclays Premiership.

His exit will be harmful, unless Hughes can recruit a suitable replacement, and the manager said: “We need to bring one more striker in at least. We hope to do that in the next couple of weeks.”

Rovers will look at Chile midfielder Jorge Acuna in the coming days.

Acuna is a free agent after his contract expired at Dutch side Feyenoord, and Hughes said: “We’re going to bring him in and have a look at him for the next couple of days.”