Chris Samba not for sale, says Blackburn boss Steve Kean

12 January 2012 17:26
lackburn manager Steve Kean has confirmed the club have rejected two bids for Christopher Samba and reiterated that the player is not for sale.[LNB]Sportsmailrevealed Spurs have lodged a ?7.5million bid for Rovers captain Samba, 27, beating Queens Park Ranger's previous ?7m offer, with Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp eager to beat new Hoops boss Mark Hughes to the player. [LNB] Target: Spurs and QPR have lodged bids for Samba[LNB]Speculation has increased in the past 24 hours after the French-born Congolese defender was quoted in L'Equipe saying that his current club - who are bottom of the Barclays Premier League - 'doesn't evolve at all', that 'things have not gone as I was told' and that he feels it is 'time for a change'.[LNB]Asked about the matter, though, Kean referred to a statement released by Blackburn last Friday, which stressed that Samba, who has also been linked with French side Paris St German, was not for sale.[LNB]'I know there has been an article in L'Equipe, but I haven't seen it myself,' said Kean, speaking ahead of Saturday's clash with Fulham at Ewood Park.[LNB]'All I can say is that I have been told that Chris has done an interview.[LNB]'What is definite is that there were two bids from one club which were refused.[LNB]'We put out a club statement which was quite strong, saying that Chris was not for sale and as far as I am concerned, there is a line drawn under it.'[LNB] QPR: Mark Hughes[LNB] PSG: Carlo Ancelotti[LNB] Spurs: Harry Redknapp[LNB] He added: 'You would have to ask Chris what he thinks, in terms of whether promises have been broken in his opinion and what they were.[LNB]'All I can say is that he has been excellent when he has played, he is a big player for us and he is not long in to a very long contract, so I hope that he stays here.'[LNB]Samba, who has frequently been linkedwith other clubs in recent seasons, has been with Blackburn since 2007 and in February signed a new contract to keep him at Rovers until 2015 -a deal Kean would like to see him 'respect'.[LNB]Questioned as to what he could do about the situation, Kean said: 'You can ask the player to respect his contract - I don't think you make contracts for any other reason than toshow your commitment to the player, and you would then like the player to show that back to the club.[LNB]'There have been situations (before) where there have been bids for Chris, and there have been a number of times when he has shown a desire to leave and it hasn't happened for whatever reason.[LNB]'I think the club has always fought to try to keep him - we want to keep our best players.'

Source: Daily_Mail