Blackburn boss Ince eyes £6m Liverpool winger Pennant as he looks to start spending Bentley windfall
Paul Ince will dip into the £15million that receive from for David Bentley to try to complete a deal for Jermaine Pennant.
The Rovers boss faces late competition for the £6m-rated winger from Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp, whose chances of landing Shaun Wright-Phillips from Chelsea look slim.
Centre of attention: Jermaine Pennant is the subject of interest from Blackburn
Blackburn still hope to beat him to a £5m deal, knowing Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez would prefer to sell Pennant, unspectacular in two years at Anfield since a £6.7m move from Birmingham, rather than lose versatile Yossi Benayoun to £6m bidders Manchester City or West Ham.
Blackburn will owe about £6.5m of the Bentley cash to Arsenal, who have a sell-on clause for the England player they let go for £1.5m three years ago.
Blackburn are also ready to rival Fulham in the pursuit of Torino's 28-year-old Australia midfielder Vince Grella. A defensive midfielder is a priority for Ince and the combative Grella fits the bill.
Rovers have already confirmed interest in Grella's fellow Australian, Palermo midfielder Mark Bresciano.
They want to reunite the international team-mates at Ewood Park and Torino are willing to sell Grella, who has 35 caps, for around £3.5m.
Rovers have ruled out a move for £2m-rated midfielder Keith Andrews from Ince's former club, MK Dons.
