(Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
French radio station RMC has reported that Blackburn Rovers have entered negotiations with Paris St-Germain for midfielder Jerome Rothen. Sam Allardyce has reportedly offered the player a three year contract with the fine print still being negotiated.
The 31-year-old midfielder joined the club he supported as a boy after excelling in Monaco’s exciting run to the Champions League final in 2004. At Monaco he became known as France’s left-wing answer to David Beckham.
A left midfielder, he possesses many of the same attributes as Manchester’s one-time wonder. He has an excellent left foot, which is able to guide defence splitting passes and accurate crosses to his strikers and attacking midfielders.
At the beginning of his career Rothen was blessed with pace which meant he could beat defenders on both their inside and outside. However, as age has caught up with him, his speed has declined and he has been increasingly utilised as a central midfielder.
Rothen has never been a prolific goal scorer. The midfielder has only managed to score 10 goals in 135 appearances for St-Germain and whilst at Monaco he bagged 8 goals in 95 games. His record haul is five in a season whilst playing as a youngster for Caen, although at every club he has played at he is almost always top when it comes to goal scoring assists.
The left midfielder suffered a loss of form since arriving at the Parisian club. With the departure of the manager Paul Le Guen, Rothen has gone on the record and stated that he feels isolated in the French capital. This dip in form led to a once promising international career stalling, and he has only disappointingly represented France in one major championship during Euro 2008.
Rovers’ fans should be buoyed by Sam Allardyce’s decent record for reinvigorating the careers of older players such as Jay-Jay Okocha, Yuri Djorkaeff and Ivan Campo.
With both the player and PSG stating that Rothen’s time has come to end at the club, a transfer at a low price is extremely likely. It also gives some indication as to what Big Sam’s next moves in the window will be, so expect a forward who excels at getting on to the end of crosses to arrive shortly. Whether it will be Christian Vieri remains to be seen.
Video evidence of Jerome Rothen can be seen here.
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