Blackburn Rovers have turned down a third offer from premier league rivals Chelsea for Republic of Ireland star Damien Duff.
"We received a third bid last evening and have today rejected it," Blackburn chief executive John Williams said.
Chelsea had already tabled two bids for the winger totaling £13 million sterling and £15 million, respectively.
But Blackburn are under no financial pressure to sell and Chelsea will need to meet their demand for £17 million to activate a release clause in Duff's contract.
Manager Graeme Souness said he is desperate to hold on to Duff but knows it will be hard to keep him if the right offer comes along.
"We made our case plain that we would like to keep Damien here because we entered a new contract with him a year ago on improved terms," he said.
"We rejected a third written offer from Chelsea at lunchtime because it didn't come up to our requirements we need or the requirements needed to trigger the clause in Damien's contract.
"Now I'm just concentrating on training and getting ready for the season ahead."