BLACKBURN Rovers and Chelsea today agreed a fee for the sale of Damien Duff.

Rovers had been clinging to the hope that after rejecting three bids for the mercurial Irish winger, the Londonders would turn their attentions elsewhere.

But at lunchtime today, the news all Rovers fans feared materialised when a fourth bid, believed to have triggered Duff's £17m get-out clause, had been accepted by the Ewood paymasters.

The West London club claim on their official website that they have agreed a fee with Rovers for the Irish internationl and that further talks will begin soon.

Chelsea have said they will not be making any further comment on the situation.

Billionaire Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has dug deeper into his bottomless pit of cash to land Duff, who is now free to open talks with the Blues over the biggest domestic transfer in England this summer.

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Duff had linked up with the rest of his team-mates at Manchester Airport this morning ahead of their afternoon flight to Washington DC.

But following the sudden developments, it seems unlikely the 24-year-old made the flight to the US.

Abramovich seemed determined to bring star names to Stamford Bridge and has been linked to countless big money deals in the last few days.

* The Lancashire Evening Telegraph's Andy Neild is on the flight to Washington DC with the Rovers team... pick-up your copy of the Telegraph tomorrow for the full story