The Blues are hoping to take Danish striker Sammy Youssouf on trial next week as Joe Royle seeks to strengthen his squad in the January transfer window. Yesterday Royle revealed that he is expecting several trialists, in the main from overseas, in the next week or so.

Youssouf, 29, is 6ft 1in tall and started his career in Denmark with Fremad Amager but was taken to Hvidovre IF by the club's owner, former Manchester United and Denmark goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, scoring 16 goals in 2000/01 and 83 in 180 games in total.

In 2002 he had a less than impressive injury-hit five-game spell with St Johnstone in Scotland in which he scored once having made a £20,000 move to the all-but-relegated SPL club.

The frontman returned to his home town in 2002/03 when he joined AB Copenhagen and scored 12 times in 23 games before moving on to Holland and RBC Roosendaal. AB Copenhagen's head coach Ove Christensen cited Youssouf's exit as one of the reasons behind his July 2003 resignation: "I left because I went on losing players, with Sammy Youssouf and Mohamed Zidan, both wonderful players, being just two."

Youssouf spent two seasons at Roosendaal, scoring seven times in 31 matches before signing with Portuguese side Marítimo last summer. Having made five appearances and netting once, Youssouf looks to be on his way out of the Madeira club on a free transfer in January after a change of manager.

Town's transfer window targets are a striker to replace Sam Parkin, out for up to four months with a broken ankle, and a left-back to take over from Jay McEveley, who has returned to Blackburn after tearing a medial knee ligament.

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