Roque Santa Cruz Returns To Blackburn, Secures Loan Deal From Manchester City

Roque Santa Cruz is set to return to Ewood Park, the Paraguayan striker set to temporarily leave Manchester City, a six-month loan to Blackburn having been confirmed this morning. According to Sky Sports, the 29-year-old is still hoping for a permanent more back to the northeast, with his £17.5 million move to Eastlands in the summer of 2009 having yielded only eight league starts.

"I feel like I am coming home. This has been the easiest decision of my career," Santa Cruz told the club's official website

"I want to get playing and scoring goals again and this is a real chance for me to prove myself after a frustrating period. Everyone knows what Blackburn Rovers means to me."

Santa Cruz enjoyed the greatest success of his career in Lancashire, scoring 23 all competition goals in 2007-08 after a summer move from Bayern Munich. In the last two-and-a-half seasons, Santa Cruz has tallied only 10 goals. With the acquisition of Edin Dzeko combining with resurgence of Jô to push Santa Cruz further down Roberto Mancini's depth chart, the striker was destined for a January departure.

Blackburn is a need of a focal point in attack, with no Rovers player having scored more than four goals this season. Steve Kean's current options at striker include Nikola Kalinic, Jason Roberts and Benjani, the latter experiencing a recent resurgence thanks to two goals against Liverpool.

While it's unclear whether Santa Cruz possesses either the form or health to be an improvement, the prospect of a legitimate scoring threat is sure to inspire hope at Ewood. Since Santa Cruz left at the end of the 2008-09 season, Blackburn as lacked somebody who can consistently score goals. Roberts led last year's team with five goals, and with Kalinic and Morten Gamst Petersen leading their year's team with four.