Blackburn made 13.2m profit in Man City deal that Rovers were winners of: View | OneFootball

Back at the start of the century, Blackburn Rovers were something of a force to be reckoned with in the Premier League.

While not the title contenders they had been back in the 1990s, there were still some extremely effective squads put together at Ewood Park.

That allowed Rovers to enjoy numerous scalps over the so-called big clubs, leading to some impressive finishes in the top-flight table, and memorable cup runs both at home and in Europe.

It also meant that the club were able to pull off some particularly eye-catching signings, from some of the big names in World football.

One such bit of recruitment that serves as an example of that, came in the summer of 2007.

Roque Santa Cruz was a memorable Blackburn signing

The season before the summer of 2007 saw the club secure a tenth place finish in the Premier League, while also reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup and last 32 in the UEFA Cup.

Looking to build on that, Blackburn acted in the transfer market with the signing of Roque Santa Cruz, who arrived having spent the last eight years with German giants Bayern Munich.

During his time with Bayern, the striker had won 12 trophies, including five Bundesliga titles and a Champions League.

So for Blackburn to sign him for a reported fee of £3.5 million looked to be something of a steal, and Santa Cruz certainly proved that on the pitch.

The Paraguayan enjoyed a remarkable debut campaign with Rovers, where he rarely seemed to be off the scoresheet, ultimately scoring 23 goals in 43 appearances in all competitions.

That played a huge part in the club securing a seventh-place finish in the Premier League, and it was no surprise to see Santa Cruz handed Blackburn's Player of the Season award at the end of the campaign.

Rovers were then able to hold on to the striker during the 2008 summer transfer window, but with interest growing and he instead signed a new four-year contract with the club.

However, Santa Cruz's second season with Blackburn was more of a struggle, with the goals drying up amid speculation about a move away, with Manchester City linked with the striker following their high-profile takeover.

Eventually, he finished his second campaign with the club with a total of just six goals in 27 appearances, although that did again help Rovers to retain their Premier League status.

Even so, that exit would finally come at the end of the campaign, even then though, there is an argument that Blackburn still got the better end of that deal.

Things didn't work out for Santa Cruz at Manchester City

The 2009 summer transfer window saw Santa Cruz depart Ewood Park, as he completed a move to Manchester City.

It is reported that the Sky Blues paid £17 million to sign the Paraguayan, meaning Blackburn made a profit of £13.5 million from what they themselves invested into the striker.

As a result, the goals he scored and profit he then made them, mean this is a deal that certainly proved extremely productive for Blackburn both on and off the pitch.

However, the same cannot be said for what happened in the immediate aftermatch of his move to Manchester City.

Although a switch to The Etihad saw Santa Cruz initially reunite with the manager who had first brought him to Blackburn in the form of Mark Hughes, that was unable to bring out the form he had previously shown at Ewood Park.

Instead, the striker struggled to settle at his new club. After his first season-and-a-half with City, Santa Cruz had scored just four goals in 24 appearances for the club in total, with only two of those outings coming in the first half of the 2010/11 season.

As a result, the Paraguayan was then allowed to complete a return to Blackburn on loan in the 2011 January transfer window.

It was a move that given his past success, excited many around Ewood Park. Tellingly though, in the wake of his spell at Manchester City, he instead looked something of a shadow of the player he had been in his first stint with the Lancashire club.

Indeed, he would fail to score in ten appearances during his loan spell back at Blackburn, that ultimately proved to be the end to his time playing competitively in English football.

The following campaign saw Santa Cruz spend the season on loan in La Liga with Real Betis, and the year after he again found himself in Spain, this time on loan with Malaga, in a move that would then open the door for his definitive exit from Manchester City.

That came in the summer of 2013, saw him return to Spain on a permanent basis, when he signed for Malaga on a permanent basis, following the expiration of his contract at The Etihad.

With his City contract having come to an end, that of course meant he was able to return to Malaga on a free transfer, preventing the Premier League side from making any return on the sizeable fee they had paid Blackburn for his services four years earlier.

Combined with the fact that, unlike at Ewood Park, City had seen very little impact from Santa Cruz on the pitch either, and it is hard to argue with any suggestion that in this case, it was Blackburn who got the better of this deal, both on and off the pitch.