Samba joined Blackburn in 2007 from Hertha Berlin

New Blackburn boss Steve Kean is disappointed by Christopher Samba's apparent desire to quit the club.

The Rovers skipper has spoken out over the sacking of previous manager Sam Allardyce by Blackburn's new owners.

Kean, given a contract to manage Rovers until the end of the season, said: "I'll be speaking to Chris.

"Maybe he's a little bit annoyed or a little bit confused about the way the club's going, [but] I'll sit him down and tell him what the plans are."

Former first-team coach Kean returned from a meeting in India with Blackburn's new owners, the Venky's group, to be greeted by headlines claiming that Samba, 26, is determined to leave after nearly four years at Ewood Park.

"His agent's been telling me he's been asking to leave the club for a year - that's been news to me," Kean admitted.

"If he has been asking to get away for a year and he still wants to leave, then if somebody comes and offers what we think he's worth, then I'll need to speak to Chris about that in person.

"I spoke to the chairman last night and he's definitely not handed in a written transfer request and he's not made a verbal transfer request to anybody."

The decision by Venky's to sack Allardyce has drawn strong criticism from inside and outside of the Premier League club.

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But Kean said, after talking to his chairman, he believes that "exciting times" are ahead.

"I had a really good meeting with the owners," added the 43-year-old. "They let me into their plan for the club, certainly this transfer window.

"They really want to invest in the team, they want to improve the squad and they want to finish as high as we can.

"That was the main reason why I went there so I could then meet the players and put across what their plan was going to be. I'm pleased to say it's a positive message."

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