Football League World
·3. November 2024
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·3. November 2024
There will be work to do at Ewood Park once the market reopens again
Blackburn Rovers had a busy period in the transfer market during the summer of 2024.
In total, nine new first-team players were added to the squad at Ewood Park, with seven more senior players departing either permanently or on loan.
Speaking recently though, head coach John Eustace insisted that the club remain a work in progress, and that he still wants to strengthen the squad even further.
As a result, Blackburn will be hoping for another productive period when the transfer window reopens at the turn of the year.
So, with that in mind, we've taken a look at some of the best and worst case scenarios that could develop for Rovers in the January transfer window, right here.
According to recent reports, Blackburn are interested in signing Kwame Poku from Peterborough United in January, in what would be an excellent signing for the club.
John Eustace's side have lacked pace out wide this season, despite the head coach being keen to add that to his squad, which he could do with the signing of the 23-year-old.
Poku also has an excellent record of goals and assists in recent years to back him up too, and with just a year remaining on his contract, he could be an affordable target too.
It would be no surprise to see interest from elsewhere emerge in the winger come January as well, so this deal would be a coup for Rovers as well.
Injury to Hayden Carter has perhaps exposed a lack of depth at centre-back for Blackburn, with only veterans Danny Batth and Kyle McFadzean available to partner Dom Hyam in the next few months.
Given those two may struggle with that workload, Rovers may want to bring in another option to help with such a situation in the future, and they were recently linked with Paudie O'Connor.
The Lincoln City centre-back has impressed in League One in recent seasons, so could now be ready to make the step-up to the Championship to do that job.
He is also out of contract at Sincil Bank come the end of this season, and so may be another who is an affordable target for the Ewood Park club as well.
Blackburn were busy when it came to their centre-forward additions in the summer, signing both Yuki Ohashi and Makhtar Gueye.
Ohashi made a strong start, but the goals have become less frequent, and he may tire having been midway through a season in Japan when he made the move to Ewood Park.
Gueye, meanwhile, has struggled to find the net in the Championship, and so Rovers may feel they need to bring in a proven goalscorer at this level.
If they do not do that, there may be questions over where their goals are going to come from going forward, which could then make life rather difficult for Eustace and co.
Lewis Travis was badly missed by Blackburn as he spent the second-half of last season out on loan with Ipswich, and the midfielder has been excellent since returning to Ewood Park.
As well as that, his leadership as club captain is also absolutely vital for the club, so they will be desperate to keep him in the upcoming January window.
However, there were links to clubs such as Stoke City and Hull City in the summer transfer window, so it may not be a surprise if speculation around Travis emerges again at the turn of the year.
Given his form since returning to the club though, it would be a major blow for Blackburn to lose him at that point, especially if it was in a deal that strengthened one of their Championship rivals.