Blackburn eye cut-price deal for Man City striker

Blackburn Rovers boss Sam Allardyce is trying to sign Manchester City misfit striker Jo in a bargain deal - two years after he came to the Premier League for a club record fee.

The Brazilian is wanted by Rovers who could take him on a season-long loan or for a cheap fee as City look to offload some of their squad men in a hurry.

Jo is back at Eastlands after a mixed year at Everton and is playing in pre-season games, but he is out of the long-term plans and can leave for virtually nothing.

City paid a record £11 million fee for Jo when he was signed from CSKA Moscow but he has become a casualty of their crazy spending in the last couple of seasons.

Rovers have stepped up an increasingly frantic search for a striker in the past few days and Jo is emerging as the top choice because he ticks a lot of Allardyce's boxes.

Ironically Jo could sign for Blackburn in time for an opening day debut against Everton. He started well for David Moyes's cub last season but fell out of favour when he went AWOL from training twice.