Now up to Duff to make his move

The appearance of Damien Duff at Manchester Airport yesterday morning, in the middle of a Blackburn Rovers' squad en route to the US for a 10-day training camp, seemed to at least signal that his club hadn't accepted the latest of Chelsea's four bids for the Republic of Ireland player.

While waiting in the departure lounge, though, Duff was informed that Chelsea's fourth offer, of £17 million, had been accepted by Blackburn, and with that he left the airport and returned to his Lancashire home.

The first official confirmation of the news appeared on Chelsea's website at lunchtime: "Chelsea and Blackburn have now agreed a fee for Irish international Damien Duff and talks will begin soon. Chelsea will not be making any further comment on the situation."

Blackburn were no more forthcoming, although their statement rejected earlier reports that Chelsea's fourth offer of £17 million had included appearance-related "add-ons". "Rovers this afternoon confirmed that the agreed fee from Chelsea for Damien Duff is an unconditional £17 million cash offer. It is, however, by no means certain at this stage that Duff will agree to the move.

"But, in the event of a deal going through, Rovers' manager Graeme Souness has already spoken with the club's chief executive, John Williams, over two possible targets for acquisition."

Williams said: "We resisted three previous bids and the decision is now with Damien who has been granted our permission to speak with Chelsea."

Signed and sealed? Not quite.

"I don't know what will happen," said Pat Devlin, the Bray Wanderers manager who has been Duff's advisor since his days as a Blackburn scout, when he recommended his signature from Dublin schoolboy club St Kevin's.

"To be quite honest," Devlin said, "there's nothing to be said for now. Damien is having a meeting (today) with his advisors and lawyers and then we head to London and we'll see what happens there."

A day of yet more speculation and rumour, then, the most popular theory being that Duff is not enthusiastic about a move to Chelsea - despite the likelihood that they will treble, at the very least, his current £25,000-a-week wages - and remains hopeful that Manchester United or Liverpool will yet enter the fray and match Chelsea's offer.

Of the two potential rivals to Chelsea's bid United seen the more likely contenders, largely because there's not much left in Liverpool's modest transfer kitty after the signings of Steve Finnan and Harry Kewell. But United would probably have to offload Juan Sebastian Veron to Chelsea, of all clubs, and possibly even Ryan Giggs to Italy, to generate the required funds and make room for Duff at Old Trafford.

Chelsea, who completed the signing of Real Madrid midfielder Geremi yesterday for £7 million, are keen to finalise the Duff deal before next week, when the squad fly out to Malaysia for the Premier League Asia Cup, a four-team tournament that also includes Birmingham and Newcastle.

Duff's choice, then? Sign for Chelsea and join new owner Roman Abramovich's well-heeled Stamford Bridge "revolution"; wait for an offer from a club closer to his Lancashire home (United or Liverpool), even if it means waiting for the next transfer window, or stay where he is and help Souness realise his dream of taking Blackburn back to the heights of 1995, their Premiership title-winning year.

Meanwhile, Chelsea's expensive rebuilding programme was given another boost when Southampton cleared the way for a £7 million move by the England left-back Wayne Bridge.

Bridge is expected to begin discussions with Chelsea on returning from the squad's fitness camp at St Andrews University in Scotland on Saturday. His move is likely to then be completed in the next 72 hours.

The Southampton chairman, Rupert Lowe, signalled his resignation at losing Bridge to Chelsea, saying: "We don't want to lose him and no deal has been done at the moment but ultimately it will not be our decision."

Southampton are unwilling to stand in the player's way but have been waiting for Chelsea to up their initial £5 million offer of last week and a subsequent offer of £6 million. Talks to agree personal terms that will hike his salary from £15,000 to about £40,000 a week are likely to be little more than a formality. Bridge has already earned the nickname "Stamford" among his Saints team-mates.

Yesterday's developments suggest Chelsea have targeted proven Premiership players. Geremi joins the England under-21 right-back Glen Johnson and it appears that Abramovich's expenditure will largely be confined to the English game.

A move has reportedly been made for Arsenal's French international midfielder Patrick Vieira, whose contract has less than 12 months to run before he becomes a free agent. The Highbury club are keen to conclude negotiations with their captain and yesterday warned off Chelsea. "Our best players are not for sale," said the Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

Eidur Gudjohnsen has signed a one-year extension which keeps him at Stamford Bridge until 2006.