Robert Lewandowski has played down the importance of a planned trip to Rovers’ training ground that was shelved because of the Icelandic ash cloud in 2010.

Lewandowski later went onto sign for Borussia Dortmund and now with Bayern Munich, the Polish marksmen has made a reputation for himself as one of Europe’s most deadly finishers.

A story that has been re-told over the last decade is how the ash cloud stood in the way of a planned move to Rovers 11 years ago, with Sam Allardyce having identified the frontman, then with Lech Poznan, as a top target.

Lewandowski opted for Borussia Dortmund, spending four years with BVB before a switch to Bayern Munich, and during his time in Germany he has lifted nine Bundesliga titles, one UEFA Champions League, four DFB Pokal and one FIFA Club World Cup.

Lewandowski admits there was interest from Rovers, as well as Genoa in Serie A in the summer of 2010, but denied a move was never as close as the previously told story would suggest, with Dortmund, and European football, always his preferred option.

"There are lots of rumours about this story," Lewandowski takes up the story in an interview with CBS Sports, revealing interest from Genoa, Rovers and Borussia Dortmund among others across Europe.

“In this crazy story, I knew that I wanted to go to the team who would be in the Champions League or Europa League in the next campaign. Only Dortmund could offer that at the time."

Lewandowski had agreed to look around the facilities at both Rovers and Genoa, but said his mind was as near as made up, and refuted any suggestion there was a contract waiting his signature.

"I did not want to sign the contract. I only wanted to see how everything looked. It was the same with Genoa,” said the 32-year-old, now preparing for Euro 2020 with Poland.

"I do not know if anything could have happened to change my mind. I was 100 per cent clear that my choice should not be a club that was not in the Champions League or the Europa League. That is why I knew that Dortmund should be the step in my career.

"Okay, I could not fly, so I could not compare the clubs. It was not a big problem. It was not a big thing as my mind was already clear."

The 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull postponed travel for several weeks during the early part of 2010 in which Lewandowski was weighing up his next move.

Rovers had signed Nikola Kalinic from Hadjuk Split a year earlier and were once again considering their striking options, with Lewandowski a top target, as was Lyon’s Frederic Piquionne, as well as Aruna Dindane.

The club had been quoted a fee of around £4.5m for Lewandowski, and speaking three years later on the possibility of a deal, Allardyce, then with West Ham, said: “My distant memory is not that great but John (Williams) and the board said, ‘We are not going to commit that amount of money to him.’ “He was put forward to sign, very strongly, by our recruitment staff, but unfortunately it was one that got knocked back.”

Putting his side of the story across, Lewandowski maintains any possible flight to England was just to assess the facilities at Rovers’ Brockhall base.

He said: “When I went to fly to Blackburn, that is when the Icelandic volcano situation happened and nobody in Europe could fly for about two or three weeks to a month.

"If I flew there, it was to see the facilities, I never wanted 100 per cent to go there as I knew that my next step should be Dortmund."