STEVE Kean believes Colin Kazim-Richards is a different player to the one who left England in 2007 after the Turkish international completed his Blackburn Rovers loan switch last night.

Rovers fans will get the first glimpse of the 25-year-old in tomorrow’s pre-season friendly at Cork City and boss Kean is excited by what he can add to the squad.

Kazim-Richards enjoyed spells at Bury, Brighton and Sheffield United, before moving to Fenerbahce in 2007, who he helped reach the Champions League quarter finals a year later, scoring in the 2-1 first leg victory over Chelsea.

After three-and-a-half seasons with Fenerbahce, including a loan spell with Toulouse, he made the move to their bitter local rivals Galatasaray in January 2011 and spent part of last season on loan at Olympiacos. Kean said:

“He can play in the middle, he can play wide. In his time abroad he predominantly played wide, but we played behind doors in Holland and he played through the middle.

“With his stature and power, he is hard to knock off the ball. He has great power in his right foot and technically he has improved dramatically.

“Speaking to him, he spent a lot of time off the field associating with the Brazilian lads when he was abroad and he thinks that has improved him at the standard he is playing.”

Rovers are also on the verge of making their ninth signing of the summer with Sporting Lisbon midfielder Diogo Rosado set to put pen to paper.

The 22-year-old has agreed personal terms with a compensation fee now being finalised with his employers.

Kean said: “Diogo is a bit older than a couple of the other Portuguese lads and has played games so I can see him being involved quickly.

“He is a player we are in the last stages of trying to get the paperwork to sign him.

“An attacking midfielder, with lovely balance, who can see the last pass.

“It was easy to see we were very young last year and we could have done with that little bit of experience.

“Now, when you see Danny Murphy and Dickson Etuhu have played together and Colin Kazim has experience, that blends nicely with the younger lads.

“Nuno Gomes, his experience is vast and he can mentor these guys, he will be a big factor in helping them settle quickly.”