Blackburn sign Joshua King from United

Blackburn have made an early move in the transfer window by signing forward Joshua King from Manchester United on a permanent deal.



The 20-year-old initially arrived at Ewood Park on loan at the end of November and has scored twice in his eight appearances so far.



The Norwegian international has signed for an undisclosed fee and he has agreed a contract which runs until the summer of 2015, with an option for a further year.



King said: "I've enjoyed my time here. We've a great group of lads and I think I've settled in well.



"I'm happy to be here and I'm really looking forward to the next two-and-a-half years that I've signed for. Everybody has made me so welcome here. I feel comfortable and I'm happy to make the deal permanent."



King can play out wide or as a centre-forward and has long been regarded as a bright prospect at Manchester United, for whom he made his debut as a substitute in a 1-0 League Cup win over Wolves in September 2009.



However, he has been unable to break into the United side again and spent time on loan at Preston, Borussia Monchengladbach and Hull before arriving at Ewood Park.

Yakubu heading to China

Blackburn Rovers striker Yakubu is close to sign for Chinese Super League team Guangzhou R&F, state media said on Tuesday.



If the deal goes through the Nigerian forward will become the latest foreign talent to be snapped up by big-spending Chinese clubs.



"We are in final talks with him and the negotiation is almost done," Lu Yi, vice president of Guangzhou R&F, was quoted by the official Xinhua news agency as saying.



"The job is 99 percent done. If nothing goes wrong with the final one percent, Yakubu will arrive at Guangzhou this week," he said, adding negotiations began two months ago.



The club -- which will reportedly pay Yakubu an annual salary of 6.0 million euros ($7.6 million) -- was not available for comment.



Guangzhou R&F is now third in the 16-club Chinese Super League, trailing cross-town rival Guangzhou Evergrande in first place and Beijing Guo'an in second position.



Chinese clubs are luring more and more foreign football players with hugely lucrative packages, hoping to raise the success of their teams after the sport's reputation in the country was badly damaged by a match-fixing scandal.



Earlier this year, French striker Nicolas Anelka joined Shanghai Shenhua, and former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has also announced his move to the same team.



Blackburn Rovers were relegated from the lucrative Premier League -- the top tier of English football -- in May.

Wigan relegates Blackburn Rovers

Blackburn joined Wolverhampton Wanderers in being relegated from the Premier League after losing 1-0 at home to Wigan, which ensured its survival with a sixth win from its past eight matches on Monday.



Blackburn needed to win to have any chance of staying up but Wigan defender Antolin Alcaraz scored with an 87th-minute header from a corner that sealed both teams' fate.



The hosts had earlier had a penalty appeal turned down by the referee when Junior Hoilett was brought down by Emmerson Boyce.



There were ugly scenes at the final whistle when some Blackburn fans ran onto Ewood Park. Earlier, a chicken was released onto the field, a pointed reminder of the home supporters' antipathy toward owner Venky's, a chicken-meat company.