By Amanda Little

Last updated 12:34, Monday, 21 July 2008

Clubs hunting Carlisle United star Joe Garner have been told they will have to fork out £1.14 million for the highly-rated striker

Joe Garner

And United chief executive David Allen today revealed that under the terms of Garner’s contract Blackburn Rovers would receive £500,000 from the deal. Bristol City had a £1 million bid for Garner turned down by United in the last January transfer window, and Nottingham Forest are the latest club to join the chase for the 20-year-old hitman’s signature.

Under the terms of the contract that Garner and his agent insisted on when he joined them from Blackburn Rovers last August, he would be allowed to leave Brunton Park when another club offers £1million on top of the £140,000 record fee Carlisle paid for him.

Those conditions were reluctantly accepted by Carlisle because Garner was on the brink of signing for SPL side Dundee United – only to change his mind and instead signed for the Blues.

News & Star Sport can today reveal that Garner’s contract also states that while Carlisle will recoup the £140,000 they paid for him, half of the remaining £1million of any future transfer will  go to Blackburn under a sell-on arrangement.

Blackburn will also have a 50 per cent cut of any future sell-on from any purchasing club.

If United were to sell the player for £1.4million, they would receive £590,000 for the striker, who scored 14 goals in 34 appearances for the Blues last season before suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury at Crewe in February.

Allen, who is one of the club's four new owners, said: “We have always wanted to keep Joe. He is extremely popular with our fans and everyone at the club.

“Of course, he is also a great young player with tremendous potential who is working extremely hard to recover from a very serious injury, which is likely to sideline him for several more months.

“But there is nothing we can do to stop Nottingham Forest, or any other club for that matter, speaking to Joe once they have reached the £1.14 million trigger.

“Our relationships with Forest and with Joe remain good but I would like to stress that it was not Carlisle United who informed Forest of the £1.14 million trigger.

“We have always wanted to keep Joe as a Carlisle United player and we are mindful that he still has two years to run on his contract with us.”