Kean hopeful of Santa Cruz deal

Published Apr. 11, 2011 9:15 a.m. ET

foxsports

Santa Cruz returned to Ewood Park for a second spell during the January transfer window, having slipped down the pecking order at Manchester City. His first stint with Rovers saw him explode onto the Premier League scene, with an impressive 23 goals plundered in his debut campaign. He joined City in a big-money move in 2009 but struggled to make an impact at Eastlands as injuries and added competition for places took their toll. Blackburn were delighted to snap him back up in the New Year and are pleased with his progress this term, despite his failure to break his scoring duck second time around. Kean insists the Paraguay international remains a class act and has confirmed that Rovers will be looking to do business with City over the summer. "We would love to sign him," said the Rovers boss. "We tried to fix a price with City in January when we signed him on loan and they wouldn't do it. "We'll get to the end of the season and see where we can take it, but the good thing is he wants to stay. It's difficult to join in January, but the advantage for Roque is that there are still a lot of the players here from when he was with us before. "He's looked quality every day in training and the only thing missing is having a full run without any niggling injuries so he can be totally focused about playing in the game, not protecting a little knock. "He's a quality player, but he hasn't played a lot of football. "He's taken a bit of time to get up to speed and he's picked up a couple of niggling injuries. "But we are adamant that if we get him on the pitch, then he will contribute. "He's been banging them in during training and he probably just needs one to bobble in off his shin and he'll be off and running."