The veteran Blackburn Rovers playmaker Tugay will leave Ewood Park at the end of the season, according to his manager Sam Allardyce. It will bring the curtain down on the 38-year-old Turk's career at the club, spanning eight seasons, after he arrived from Rangers for £1.3m.

"We will say farewell at the end of the season and thank you very much for what you have done for Blackburn," said Allardyce. "Certainly if we remain in the Premier League, Tugay can bow out gracefully after playing at the top level most of the time.

"He has had a fantastic career. But at 38 and the ever-increasing demands of the Premier League, certainly in a physical sense, it means you cannot go on forever."