BLACKBURN Rovers have told Middlesbrough to forget about signing Jordan Rhodes for £12m - the offer that remains on the table - after giving Rudy Gestede the go-ahead to conclude an £8m deal with Aston Villa.

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Gestede is set for a medical at Villa Park after negotiations reached a fruitful outcome between the two clubs over the last 24 hours.

While the transfer of Gestede, believed to be worth a far less initial payment than the agreed price, is not thought to have any bearing on Rhodes’ future, it has weakened the Blackburn forward line.

That led to manager Gary Bowyer travelling to Barnsley on Wednesday night to run the rule over Middlesbrough, raising the possibility of a part-exchange deal for Rhodes.

Earlier this summer Boro’s Spanish striker Kike was a target for Wolves and his two goals at Oakwell in a 4-0 win will have been noted by Bowyer, who has to be creative in his attempts to strengthen his squad.

Blackburn are having to recruit free agents and loan signings because a transfer embargo was imposed on the Ewood Park outfit following the debts of around £80m which breached the Football League’s Financial Fair Play regulations.

But sources close to the Lancashire club claim the situation does not necessarily mean they are willing to cash in on Rhodes at this stage. Boro are thought to have offered a deal worth £12m, which would include an initial down payment of £8m.

A sale would seem a sensible move from Blackburn in their current financial state, but Blackburn’s owners Venky’s are not in any rush to cash in on a player they regard as a crown jewel in difficult times.

Blackburn would prefer a far greater initial payment, not dependent on add-ons, because the £8m figure was the same they paid to Huddersfield in 2012. Since then he has scored more than 20 goals in each of his three seasons, more than any other Championship player.

The 25-year-old – who has already publicly stated a desire to leave to join Boro where his uncle is coach Steve Agnew – has not figured in all of Blackburn’s pre-season friendlies because of minor injuries but Blackburn are in a strong position to keep him.

Rhodes - who is also among those being considered by Sunderland who can offer Premier League football and are close to selling Connor Wickham to Crystal Palace for £9m - still has four years to run on a contract he extended just last year.

There is a realisation at Blackburn that they do have to offload players to ease the debts, but Venky’s have a much more determined view of Rhodes, who they feel is worth considerably more than is being offered.

Blackburn rejected a £10m offer from Hull which also included a player just last year, so that represents a guide as to where Boro might have to reach to land their top striker target.

Middlesbrough are waiting for international clearance to play Uruguayan international Christian Stuani following his summer switch from Espanyol. It is still hoped he will make his first appearance against Getafe tomorrow.

One player who will not play in the final friendly of the summer is defender Ben Gibson.

The England Under-21 international, who suffered a bad hamstring injury at the start of last season, had to hobble off at Barnsley on Wednesday with a similar concern.

However, Gibson is thought to have been taken off as a precaution and the injury is not a major concern for Aitor Karanka, who has already suffered the blow of losing new signing Alex Baptiste for the majority of the new campaign with a broken leg.

More than 15,000 Boro supporters, meanwhile, have bought season cards and others can take advantage of the current prices for the final day today. The sales figure is already substantially higher than at this stage last year and it is hoped the numbers will increase further before the start of the campaign.

Boro have had their ticket allocation for the opening weekend trip to Preston increased by more than 2,000 on request. Rather than the initial 3,030 tickets made available, Boro have now been given 5,245 at Deepdale on Sunday, August 9.