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Blackburn Rovers are set to resume their bid to sign Schalke striker Kevin Kuranyi at the end of the season.

According to the Daily Mail, Sam Allardyce is lining up the Brazil-born Germany international to replace Paraguay-born Paraguayan Roque Santa Cruz after accepting that the striker will be out the door come the end of the season.

That may be no bad thing for Rovers. Since Allardyce managed to fend off Manchester City and keep Santa Cruz in the January transfer window, the former Bayern Munich hitman has only scored one league goal. Selling the injury-plagued forward to City could give Rovers an advantage in next season's relegation battle.

Rovers had eyed Kuranyi - who has clocked up a respectable 91 goals in the Bundesliga so far - as the ideal candidate to take the number nine shirt at Ewood Park then, but will now buy him in the summer unless Everton can get in there first.

Allardyce has had enough time at the club to put the Rovers defenders through their paces and see what they are all about, and has concluded that Aaron 'The Axe' Mokoena and Andre 'Oops! I did it again' Ooijer can both sling their respective hooks.

Mokoena's muscle, adaptability and disregard for the safety of others around him have got Stoke City boss Tony Pulis interested, while Ooijer is set for a return to PSV Eindhoven.

The Mail also report that those Manchester United bean counters are only paying Old Trafford wunderkind Federico Macheda a paltry £400 a week (boo!), but they set to offer the Italian sensation a new deal worth £10,000 a week (yay!).

Most papers have carried the news that Newcastle United's interim unqualified yet inspirational figure Alan Shearer is none too happy about Obafemi Martins chucking a sicky for the Stoke game.

For legal reasons, GS should point out that the Nigerian did not, in fact, bunk off, but instead picked up a groin injury, although that didn't stop one cheeky hack from sneaking the words 'snooze' and 'button' into their report on the affair.

Shearer said: "He rang up and said he had a sore groin and unable to play. We got the doctors and physios to go and have a look at him, and he couldn't play. But there was no evidence earlier in the week he had the injury."

Talking of cheeky, The Sun bring us the news that Marlon King tried to have a bottle of champagne sent to Phil Brown after receiving the man of the match award in Middlesbrough's win over Hull. King scored the third goal of the 3-1 win and then ran past Brown cupping his ear in order to wind up his former boss all the more.

A tunnel insider (yes, that's who has been quoted) said: "Marlon told the sponsors to take the award to Brown with a note saying 'all the best'."

Freed from the shackles of his gruelling desk job at Newcastle, Dennis Wise is the latest man to be put in the frame to replace Paulo Sousa at Queens Park Rangers following the sacking of the Portuguese.

The mind boggles at the relationship Wise would enjoy with club owner Flavio Briatore - let's hope this one has some truth to it.

Elsewhere, West Brom's Jay Simpson has once again insisted he will rejoin Arsenal at the end of the season, West Ham are set to offer manager Gianfranco Zola a new four-year contract and Birmingham City striker Kevin Phillips has turned down a move to A League side Perth Glory.

Tony Mabert / Eurosport