BLACKBURN Rovers are closing in on Serbian international Radosav Petrovic – with the next few days pivotal in deciding the midfielder’s future.

Rovers have submitted a bid for the 22-year-old midfielder, understood to be in the region of £2.5million, with the club now in talks with his employers Partizan Belgrade in an attempt to finalise a deal.

Partizan’s director of sport Mladen Krstajic yesterday said progress had been made during continuing negotiations and that the clubs were now “close” to striking an agreement.

No deal has yet been struck though as negotiations continue over his price but the player has been left out of Partizan’s Champions League qualifier in Belgium this week.

A Venky’s source told the Lancashire Telegraph yesterday there was real interest in Petrovic but that nothing yet was official as they looked to resolve a couple of issues.

Rovers are hopeful a fee can be agreed imminently to allow them to start discussing personal terms with the player, who is understood to be keen on a move to the Premier League.

Krstajic said; “I can confirm that we're in the middle of talks with Blackburn for Petrovic. We talked during the weekend, we are working on, and we are close.”

Petrovic, who saw a move to Dutch outfit Vitesse Arnhem collapse earlier this summer, would be seen as an ideal replacement for last season’s loanee Jermaine Jones in the heart of midfield.

He has made 18 appearances for Serbia, scoring one goal, and has been tracked by the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Sevilla and Fiorentina in the last 12 months.

He has been named in the Serbian SuperLiga Team of the Year twice in a row and, at 6ft 4ins tall, has a dominating physical presence in the centre of the park.

Petrovic’s last couple of seasons in Serbia have shown he has an eye for goal and his ability to get up and down the pitch is something Rovers’ midfield is currently lacking.