John Williams, the Blackburn Rovers chairman, fears that the club could go bust if they are relegated from the Barclays Premier League this season. The R word is preying on the mind of Roque Santa Cruz, too, as the Paraguay striker weighs up whether to stay or pursue his ambitions to play for a big club.

Williams claims that annual turnover would drop from £56 million to £22 million if the club were relegated — and plummet farther once the parachute payments dry up. With wages accounting for 85 per cent of turnover, relegation would precipitate a fire-sale. The exit of Santa Cruz during next month's transfer window would raise funds and Manchester City have frequently been linked to him.

"I am happy at Blackburn but I want to keep improving," Santa Cruz said. "I am looking to again play in a big side that is in Europe and trying to win their league. If a bigger club came in for me, I would like to take that opportunity. I also understand the interests of Blackburn and they do not want to lose players. It is a very hard decision."

Given that attendances are low, however, and investment from the Walker Trust is drying up, the future is bleak unless Sam Allardyce, the news manager, can keep Blackburn up.

“There was a time when clubs got relegated that tomatoes were thrown at directors’ cars and fans simply lost the bragging rights in the pub,” Williams said. “These days you might end up losing your business. This club has been around since 1875 and the board did what we felt we had to do to preserve it [by sacking Paul Ince, the previous manager, and bringing in Allardyce]. The fact is, we have a relatively small fanbase and relatively small external funding other than that we can generate ourselves.”