Duberry: Quitting Leeds (LaurenceGriffiths/Allsport)

The former Chelsea centre-back has endured a torrid time at Elland Road, where he failed to command a regular first-team spot.

Duberry has told new boss Terry Venables he wants to leave in search of first team football, with the 26-year-old's agent yesterday revealing he had fielded interest from Blackburn, Everton and Bolton.

And a Trotters spokesman confirmed on the club's official website: 'A player of Michael Duberry's talent will always attract some interest from Bolton Wanderers.'

Bolton have already brought in Nigerian World Cup star Jay-Jay Okocha, French duo Bernard Mendy and Youri Djorkaeff plus Akin Bulent and Delroy Facey during the summer.

But assistant manager Phil Brown has insisted the hunt goes on to give Bolton enough strength in depth to avoid another relegation scrap.

'We earmarked certain positions to strengthen in the pre-season and have already filled some of those already. However, we've still got one or two positions to fill.'

Rovers, meanwhile, have ended their interest in Duberry. Blackburn made an enquiry two months ago, but now boss Graeme Souness is content with his defensive options following Andy Todd's signing and Henning Berg's decision to commit his future to the club.

Rovers chief executive John Williams said in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph: 'It's true that we made an initial enquiry about Michael two months ago, but we decided not to go through with that.