Former Italy striker Christian Vieri is set to sign for Blackburn Rovers, according to the Gazzetta dello Sport.

The 35-year-old left Atalanta before the end of last season by mutual consent after he tired of abuse from fans expecting more from him than two goals in nine league appearances.

According to reports, former France forward Ibrahim Ba has been instrumental in the deal tyo sign ‘Bobo’ Vieri.

Ba played for current Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce at Bolton in 2003-04 and now helps African players find clubs in Europe.

Should the deal go through it wouldn’t be the first time Allardyce has succeeded in bringing a seemingly faded star to an unlikely Lancastrian backwater.

Whilst at Bolton he signed the likes of Youri Djorkaeff, Jay-Jay Okocha, Ivan Campo, Fernando Hierro, Hidetoshi Nakata and Nicolas Anelka.

In most cases he also managed to motivate those players into enjoying an Indian summer to their careers.

He will need to work his magic once again, though, if Vieri does make Rovers his 14th professional club.

The former Juventus, Inter Milan and AC Milan player has only once played more than 10 league games in a season since leaving Inter in 2005 due to a succession of injury problems.

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