Santa's gifts so welcome at Ewood

Mark Hughes believes he has landed the bargain buy of the summer at Blackburn for the second year running in Bayern Munich striker Roque Santa Cruz.

Paraguay star Santa Cruz will cost £4.5million — more than twice as much as Hughes paid Porto for South Africa international Benni McCarthy, who went on to fire 17 Premiership goals for Blackburn.

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But market prices have soared since that jackpot gamble, making 25-year-old Santa Cruz a target for several clubs, including Manchester City, despite his £50,000-a-week wage demands.

Hughes, who retains an interest in bringing Everton's £4m-rated striker James Beattie back to Rovers, hit out recently at the lavish amounts being spent by rivals in the transfer market.

But he is delighted to win the race for Santa Cruz, who was at Ewood Park last night for a medmedical.

Hughes said: "We have some very good strikers at this club, but what we haven't got is a real aerial threat, and that's where Santa Cruz can help.

"He's a 25-year-old international from Bayern Munich, and to get that quality through the door in comparison to other deals that have been done would be exceptional.

"Santa Cruz has been at Bayern for a number of seasons but his progress has been hampered by injuries. Just as he was getting a place in the side he was getting injured, so it was stop-start which was frustrating for him. But you don't stay at a club like Bayern for as long as he has without having great ability."

Rovers hope to confirm Santa Cruz's arrival ahead of today's InterToto Cup clash with FK Vetra.

Blackburn take a 2-0 cushion into the deciding leg of the third-round tie with the Lithuanian club after McCarthy and Matt Derbyshire scored in Vilnius last Sunday.

Hughes plans to start with a full-strength side but will give some of his fringe players a secondhalf run if Rovers kill off the tie early to secure a place in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Cup.

BLACKBURN (probable, 4-4-2): Friedel; Ooijer, Nelsen, Samba, Warnock; Bentley, Savage, Tugay, Pedersen; McCarthy, Roberts.