30. 06. 10. - 11:00

Jelavic Rapid future hopes soar as Rovers eye Bancé

Chances that Nikica Jelavic stays with Rapid Vienna are increasing as Blackburn Rovers have put an eye on Mainz 05 star Aristide Bancé.

Bancé – nicknamed "Bull of Burkina Faso" – netted 10 times in the 2009/2010 German Bundesliga season. British sports press claim today (Weds) Sam Allardyce is considering placing an offer of 4.5 million Euros for the hot-tempered 25-year-old striker.

Bancé is a teammate of former Austrian national team captain Andreas Ivanschitz at Mainz. The club’s executive manager Christian Heidel dismissed the rumours. "That’s all rubbish. We received no offer from Blackburn. And Bancé wouldn’t get a work permit for the United Kingdom as far as I know."

The player’s agent Saif Rubie however claimed several clubs from the top-flight leagues of England, France and Germany had signalled interest in signing his client.

This comes after Allardyce sent spies to check out the skills of Rapid star Jelavic who scored 18 league goals last season.

Rapid executive manager Alfred Hörtnagl however declared he only knew of the interest from Rovers through newspaper reports.

"Nikica recently assured us he wanted to focus on Rapid. It’s not as if he expressed his desperate ambition to leave – so we won’t press on with it," Hörtnagl explained.

Hamburger SV and Benfica are reportedly also in the running to snatch the Croatian national team star who delivered strong performances in the Europa League group stage for Rapid last autumn.

Rapid fans fear Jelavic might be on his way out as club bosses signed both Erwin Hoffer and Stefan Maierhofer shortly before the 2009 summer transfer window closed – despite promising they would not let both strikers go.

Maierhofer and Hoffer scored 50 league goals between them in the 2008/2009 season. Both are currently seeking a transfer again after failing to make it in the Premier League – Maierhofer joined Wolverhampton Wanderers – and in the Seria A where Hoffer plays occasionally for SSC Napoli.

Italian media reveal today German side 1. FC Kaiserslautern joined Mainz 05 in the race for Hoffer’s signature.

Christian Fuchs might meanwhile be forced to play for VfL Bochum in the second league next season after the club was relegated. The defender hoped for a transfer to a top team such as Hamburger SV or VfB Stuttgart but German dailies reveal that none of the interested clubs were ready to cough up 1.5 million Euros for the former SV Mattersburg ace.

Bochum boss Friedhelm Funkel said: "The official squad pictures will be taken on Sunday. I expect Christian to turn up."

David Alaba meanwhile signed a three-year professional contract with German Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich. The 18-year-old – who became Austria’s youngest national team player of all time last year – joined the club’s youth academy from Austrian vice champions Austria Vienna two years ago.