DANNY Graham could be a Blackburn player next season if new manager Owen Coyle can persuade him to ignore other offers and stay at Ewood Park.

The striker netted seven goals in 18 games after arriving on loan from Sunderland in January, making him the club’s top scorer and an instant fans’ favourite.

But he becomes a free agent on July 1 and is rumoured to be attracting interest from Scottish giants Celtic, as well as Rovers’ Championship rivals Wigan Athletic and Birmingham City. 

Coyle has plenty of work to do straight away to sort out contracts and decide who to bring in to bolster the ranks for a stab at improvement next season.

And he admits the fact he doesn’t have a recognised striker on the books is a concern that needs addressing quickly.

Charlton forward Tony Watt has, like Graham, returned to his parent club, while Nathan Delfouneso, Chris Brown and Simeon Jackson are all out of contract.

Coyle said: “Danny is a good player and given his situation there’s no doubt that he’s going to have some very big offers on the table. He’s an outstanding player, somebody I’ve always liked, and that’s all relative to what we can do.

“Ultimately we’ll work within everything we’ve got here to bring those players in and Danny’s a very good player.

“Whether we can get him to the football club, because I know he’ll have some very big offers, remains to be seen.

“But we’ll leave no stone unturned to try to get good players to the club that we think can enhance the team because that’s important.

“It’s not rocket science to understand that we need to get a few strikers into the club to add to some very good players that we have.”

Rovers currently have 16 first-team players under contract for next season, a figure which includes goalkeepers Jason Steele and David Raya, plus young wingers John O’Sullivan and Connor Mahoney.

Coyle will be hoping his contacts within the game can lead to some new faces at Ewood Park as he tries to build a squad to improve on a disappointing campaign last time out.

He added: “We accept that I’ve not inherited a team that has been champions.

“It’s a team that finished in the bottom half of the Championship.

“Within that, I think there are some good players.

“What we’ve got to do is add to it and get players that we think can be competitive from day one in this tough environment that is the Championship.

“We all know the prize and that’s why it is such an exciting thing.

“Yes, when we look at the squad, we don’t have one recognised striker at the club, so I think we know the positions where we need to add.

“We’ll make inroads into those players that we think can add to the existing group we already have.”