Blackburn Rovers‘ managing director Derek Shaw has revealed that the club are “getting nearer” to coming out of their transfer embargo.

Rovers, along with Championship rivals Leeds United and Nottingham Forest, were hit with a ban on transfers since January 1 after breaching the Football League’s Financial Fair Play regulations.

It has left boss Gary Bowyer scouring the market for free transfers with Sacha Petshi and Bengali-Fode Koita joining so far this summer and a deal for striker Adam Le Fondre is believed to be close to completion.

However with goalkeeper Jake Kean leaving on a free transfer to join Premier League new boys Norwich City on Saturday, Shaw revealed that they are not far off being able to trade again.

Veteran David Dunn, Josh King, Tom Cairney and Rudy Gestede are among the other key men who have left Ewood Park this summer and Shaw told the Lancashire Telegraph: “Jake is the last of the players who were surplus to requirements and who [manager Gary Bowyer] wanted to move on.

“It’s been a two-and-a-half year project, basically, going back to your [Danny] Murphys and [Gael] Givets, and Jake is the last one.

“The salaries of the players that have remained are much more under control but, while it doesn’t mean that everything has ended, because there are settlement periods with a lot of these players, there is definitely light at the end of the tunnel.”

Shaw added: “We’re still under an embargo but we’re getting nearer and nearer to the point where we will be trading within the rules and we’ll come out of the embargo.”

Rovers open their campaign next Saturday against Wolves in a game they are slight 2.50 favourites to win, with the draw at 3.10 and Kenny Jackett’s men on offer at 2.80 to take the points.