'We were duty-bound' - Coventry chairman Bryan Richardson reveals why Dublin is off

A £6.75m transfer fee has been negotiated and the England frontman will be on his way to Ewood Park as long as he agrees personal terms.

Coventry City chairman Bryan Richardson announced at a news conference at Highfield Road on Tuesday that the club had accepted Rovers' offer for the 29-year-old former Manchester United star.

"We are, and always have been, reluctant to to sell Dion Dublin," said Richardson. "But we were duty-bound to give him permission to speak to Blackburn.

Dublin is discussing terms with Rovers

"They contacted us last week to ask if we were prepared to sell him, and we have been negotiating hard with them over the last few days.

"We received a written offer of £6.75m which we, in turn, have accepted in writing.

"The player is now discussing personal terms with Blackburn with a view to signing for them. So the situation is now outside of our control."

"We consider a fee of almost £7m for a player who is 30 next birthday to be near enough full value."

Rovers desperate for goal power

Blackburn manager Roy Hodgson failed in an attempt to capture the City skipper during the summer, but has since increased his bid.

Rovers, who are languishing in the Premiership relegation zone, have been plagued with problems up front this season.

Chris Sutton has struggled with fitness and is now banned for four games and Kevin Gallacher has also been ruled out by injury.

Record signing Kevin Davies has only just recovered from a viral illness and Swedish striker Martin Dahlin has been loaned to Hamburg after failing to make an impact at the Lancashire club.

Word of warning for Dion

Hodgson has warned Dublin, who is estimated to earn around £20,000 a week, not to pitch his salary demands too high when they discuss his terms.

"I am only hoping the type of wage demands he is going to make are going to be within our bounds," Hodgson said.

"I'm not going to be prepared to recommend to (chairman) Jack Walker that we throw all of our principles and policies out of the window for the player.