Blackburn Rovers face concerning transfer issue – Chelsea, Arsenal and Man Utd are closing in | OneFootball

Blackburn Rovers should ensure they keep hold of Igor Tyjon with Camden Schaper departing for Chelsea.

The academy production of Blackburn Rovers has been brilliant in the last decade or so and has earned its reputation as being one of the most productive spots for young talent in England.

The standout big money sale from the Blackburn academy has been Adam Wharton, who moved to Crystal Palace in January 2024 for a fee in the region of £18 million.

Wharton has gone on to play for England, as well as being named in their UEFA EURO 2024 squad as the Three Lions finished as runners’ up to Spain, while going on to be linked with the likes of Bayern Munich and Manchester City.

It doesn’t stop there, though, because despite a recruitment drive in the last 18 months or so whereby the Lancastrians have targeted foreign markets, a lot of the Rovers squad remains made up of homegrown talents.

Scott Wharton, the brother of Adam, Hayden Carter and Jake Garrett are a part of a squad that has thinned out its academy products in recent years – and two more are targets for the bigger clubs; Igor Tyjon and Camden Schaper.

Blackburn have a transfer dilemma on their hands with Igor Tyjon and Camden Schaper

According to reports, half of the so-called ‘big six’ in England, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United, are interested in signing young Blackburn duo Camden Schaper and Igor Tyjon.

Tyjon is a player that has come through the system to a lot of excitement in the last year or so, with the Southport-born striker, who has represented both England and Poland at youth international level, having been the subject of bids from Arsenal last summer and in January, with Man United also now in the hunt too, as per reports.

Tyjon, who turns 18 in mid-March, made two appearances at the back end of last season and was expected to kick on a bit more this year, despite his age, especially in what has been a struggling side – albeit not up-front with Andri Gudjohnsen shining.

A chunk of his season was disrupted by the 2025 FIFA under-17's World Cup in the autumn, but Tyjon hasn’t featured for Rovers at all this season in the league, playing in the first round of the EFL Cup back in August, with the fact he's been turning down professional contracts perhaps not putting him in favour with senior management.

Camden Schaper, on the other hand, is only 14 and some way off being a part of the first-team picture at Rovers, but the South African youngster is reportedly set for a move to Chelsea for a fee believed to be in the region of £1 million.

Schaper scored 45 goals and provided 65 assists for Rovers’ under-14's side during the 2024/25 campaign, and is a part of the BlueCo-led project of targeting the very best young players for moves to Chelsea.

Blackburn must hold on to Igor Tyjon now and give him a pathway to succeed at Ewood Park

Some of the impressive work that has been done by Blackburn in the last few years has been completely to do with their academy and how they have managed it.

Wharton, for example, went for such a hefty fee as a result of being trusted enough from a very early age to be eased into the side and then to play regularly.

There will be a feeling of regret that the likes of Joe Rankin-Costello, Lewis Travis and John Buckley, all previously essential first-teamers that also came through the academy, were sold on last summer.

However, they were sold on for £1 million, £3 million and £1 million respectively, while Harry Leonard also departed for £1 million, and there must be a feeling that these talents could have either been kept on or had their price inflated — especially in the case of Buckley at one stage and Leonard certainly now.

The long-term picture at Blackburn is generally uncertain, too, with Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill taking on a dual role to do both the Northern Ireland job and take over at Ewood Park until the end of this season.

It is therefore imperative that, as Blackburn try to rediscover any sort of identity, they return to providing a pathway to their very talented and very best from the academy and ensuring that they keep hold of Tyjon, at least for another season, could be key to that.

Of course, that would mean thrashing out discussions with the teenager to try and make him see that staying at Ewood Park could be best for his development, rather than moving on to one of England's superpowers, where he's likely to go into an under-21's team or be loaned out at some point.

A professional contract at Rovers, though continues to be snubbed in the wake of interest from elsewhere, but the Blackburn hierarchy stood firm in January and turned down offers for the attacking midfielder/striker, with a £1 million offer snubbed from Arsenal.

Evidently, Rovers think one of two things — they can either get more at a tribunal if the teen forward moves on this summer, which is potentially risky business, or they still have some confidence that Tyjon will finally put pen-to-paper on a deal, and Blackburn should hope that it's the latter that ends up happening.