Jon Dahl Tomasson is desperate to hold on to Ben Brereton Diaz after the Chile international fired Blackburn for a 1-0 win at Blackpool.
The 23-year-old has been heavily linked with moves to Fulham or Everton, with the transfer window due to close on Thursday night, while there is also speculation he could go abroad.
But after his 16th-minute strike was enough to overpower Blackpool and end Rovers’ three-game losing streak, Tomasson is eager to keep hold of his striker.
The Rovers boss said: “He scored another great goal. He ran behind the defenders at the right time, it was a well-timed goal.
“We know Ben is a great quality player, so let’s see what happens tomorrow.
“Hopefully he is still at Blackburn on Friday because we need his quality. He’s also a big boy. He works so hard around the place.
“If Ben doesn’t stay, whoever replaces him will need a lot of money. And whatever happens, we will have to use our team.
“Hopefully there will be one or two new signings before the window closes.”
On the hard-fought win against local rivals, Tomasson added: “Derby games tend to be tough but we had 3,000 brilliant fans behind us and I think they really enjoyed it. I liked that.
“It was very intense at times, but with and without the ball we were good, we always looked dangerous.”
Blackpool have their own in-demand striker in Josh Bowler, and he first threatened at Bloomfield Road.
But Brereton Diaz showed his clinical side when he headed home after being put on by Bradley Dack for what turned out to be the game’s only goal.
Blackpool boss Michael Appleton admitted his side lacked the quality to get anything out of the game.
He said: “I was delighted with the first 15 minutes. We flew out of the traps, but the goal came at a very bad time.
“It was frustrating, bordering on angry on my part. We were too naive in our defense of the situation and they scored with their first chance.
“It hit the players hard, and to be honest, it summed us up as a unit.
“There was a lot of effort, energy and hard work, but we lacked quality in the final third.”
On the possibility of losing Bowler, Appleton added: “I sure hope he stays. Honestly, I have no idea if he’s going to leave or stay.
“There is genuine interest there, so it will be a big 24 hours for the club.
“If he leaves, it will make things doubly difficult for us.
“The transfer window is good for some clubs, but not necessarily for others. We won’t complain about that though.
