Blackburn boss Steve Kean is eager to bring in Bolo Zenden but admits that he faces competition for the experienced midfielder's signature.
Blackburn boss hoping to agree deal but wary of rival interest
Blackburn manager Steve Kean is eager to bring in Bolo Zenden but admits that he faces competition for the experienced midfielder's signature.
Zenden, 35, who can list the likes of Barcelona, Chelsea and Liverpool amongst his old clubs, has been a free agent since leaving Sunderland last summer.
He did not pursue an immediate move due to family matters, although he was connected to Celtic before Christmas, and Kean is now hopeful of adding the Dutchman to a group of players desperately trying to pull away from the relegation zone.
"We spoke with Bolo when he came in, he had a look at us and had a look about the training ground. We spoke at length and I think it was important for him to understand where we wanted him to play," Kean said.
"He has a wealth of experience and if you look at our side at the moment, if it's not the youngest then it's one of the youngest in the Barclays Premier League, and Bolo brings a lot of experience.
"We've lost experience with some of the lads that have left the club, and if we can get him in that will be great. But he has a lot of offers, we hope he will consider ours and if we can move it forward, that will be great."
Positive
Zenden, who won 54 caps for his country and a Primera Division title with Barcelona, has recently been linked with moves to a number of Championship clubs, with Doncaster and Leeds among those mentioned.
Kean, though, hopes that with his family settled, Zenden will now opt to continue his record of having never played outside the top flight.
"He just wants to make sure the family side of things is okay as his wife has had a baby, and that's all moved on," he added ahead of Saturday's meeting with fellow relegation candidates Wolves.
"He's spent time with his new baby, he's ready to go, he's very fit, and from our point of view, he'd bring experience.
"He's only ever played at the top level, when he was at Marseille, Barcelona and so on.
"He's had plenty of offers to go a level down in this and other countries, but he wants to finish his career at the top end and that's important for him.
"We're confident we've made a good case for what we want to do, where he would fit in, play him and what the dynamic is. I'm sure he left much more positive than when he came and that was important from our point of view."
