BLACKBURN Rovers will enter the race to sign Craig Bellamy this summer if Liverpool indicate they are willing to sell the Welsh firebrand striker.

Sources on Merseyside claim Bellamy could become surplus to requirements at Anfield when Rafa Benitez is handed the key to a transfer war-chest by the club's new American owners, George Gillett and Tom Hicks, at the end of the season.

Benitez is ready to spend big to transform Liverpool into genuine title contenders, and he's already been linked with moves for Barcelona's Samuel Eto'o and Valencia's David Villa, having put a proven world class striker at the top of his shopping list.

If Benitez succeeds in landing his top targets then that could spell the end for Bellamy, who has failed to make the kind of impact he was hoping for in his first season at Anfield.

Rovers boss Mark Hughes is monitoring the situation closely, and he will challenge Aston Villa for Bellamy's signature if Liverpool give any indication that they are prepared to do business.

The Reds bought Bellamy from Rovers for £6 million last summer after triggering a release clause in his contract, but inconsistent form and a much-publicised bust-up with team-mate John Arne Riise has tested Benitez's patience.

Rovers would probably have to pay more than the £6 million they received for Bellamy to bring him back to Ewood this summer, but Hughes knows he can get the best out of the striker, as he proved last season, and he would jump at the chance of pairing him with Benni McCarthy in what he believes could be a potentially explosive partnership.

McCarthy, a bargain £2.5 million purchase from Porto last summer, has attracted interest himself after scoring 21 goals in his debut season in English football, and Hughes is hoping to attract the players that could see the South African become even more prolific.

Hughes still has several decisions of his own to make in regard to the futures of several strikers already at the club.

Ipswich boss Jim Magilton is keen to sign Franny Jeffers on a permanent basis after the 26-year-old has scored three times in seven appearances during a loan spell at Portman Road.

However, Rovers have yet to decide whether Jeffers will be allowed to move on in the summer or not.

Chairman John Williams said: "We will make a decision as to whether we want to keep Franny at the end of the season, once we've assessed our own requirements.

"At the moment, we haven't made a decision as to whether he's available or not."

The same situation would also appear to apply to Shabani Nonda.

The DR Congo international's loan spell at Blackburn is due to come to an end in the summer, and Hughes has yet to decide whether to sign him or not for a pre-agreed price of £2million from AS Roma.