BLACKBURN ROVERS have reluctantly accepted a £6 million bid from Liverpool for Craig Bellamy, clearing the way for the Wales forward to move to Anfield when he returns from honeymoon this week. Bellamy must still pass a face-to-face examination with Rafael Benítez, who is eager to assess the personality of a player with a chequered past, but the Merseyside club do not anticipate any problems.

The Blackburn board was left with no option but to accept the bid from Liverpool, which triggered a get-out clause in the contract that the player signed on his arrival from Newcastle United for £5 million last July. Blackburn intend to offer Bellamy a new contract worth more than £50,000 a week in the hope of persuading him to stay, but privately they are resigned to losing him to Liverpool, the club he supported as a boy, even if it transpires that he earns less money at Anfield.

The situation is one that Blackburn were effectively forced into last summer when Bellamy, after an acrimonious end to his time at Newcastle, accepted the invitation to rebuild his career at Ewood Park. The forward wanted to play under Mark Hughes, his former Wales manager, but made clear that he regarded the move as a stepping stone back to a higher level, insisting on a clause, active until June 30, that allowed him to speak to any club offering £6 million.

Benítez, the Liverpool manager, views the 26-year-old as the ideal candidate to bring pace and freshness to a forward line featuring the more ponderous Peter Crouch and Robbie Fowler. Benítez, who considered Jermain Defoe, of Tottenham Hotspur, and Darren Bent, the Charlton Athletic striker, as alternatives before settling on Bellamy, may yet move for another forward, having already sold Fernando Morientes to Valencia.

His plans were threatened when Djibril Cissé suffered a broken leg on the eve of the World Cup finals, but Marseilles are preparing to proceed with a bid to sign him on loan with a view to a permanent transfer next summer.

Liverpool have already secured deals to sign Gabriel Palletta, the young Argentine defender, from Banfield and Mark González, the Chile winger, from Albacete, the latter subject to receiving a work permit. They have also made an improved offer in the region of £9 million to Seville for Daniel Alves, who will offer more options at right back and farther forward, and have provisionally reached a pre-contract agreement with Fabio Aurelio, the Brazilian left back, whose contract with Valencia expires at the end of the month.

Blackburn’s disappointment at losing Bellamy will be tempered slightly by their success in persuading Steven Reid to sign a new four-year contract. Tottenham made an inquiry about the Ireland midfield player last week, but he has agreed to sign a new deal.

Manchester United have secured a deal to sign Magnus Wolff Eikrem, the hottest young talent in Norway, from Molde. The 15-year-old said: “United is the best club in the world and the best club to join for a young player.”

Birmingham City are considering reporting Wigan Athletic to the FA Premier League after accusing the Lancashire club of making an illegal approach for Emile Heskey.