Blackburn Rovers told to beat Celtic in battle for £5m-rated striker - it would be "a real coup" for the Venky's | OneFootball

A striker is on Rovers' wishlist in the final days of the window.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Blackburn Rovers have been linked with a move for Lorient centre-forward Sambou Soumano.

The club's lack of depth in the number nine position has pushed them in the direction of the 24-year-old striker.

According to Alan Nixon, Blackburn are in talks with Lorient over a potential deal for the Senegalese forward - one that could cost them in the region of £5 million if the Ligue 1 side's valuation is met.

Soumano, who has also been linked with Scottish champions Celtic, is already off the mark in France's top tier after he helped Lorient return to the level by scoring 14 goals last time out in Ligue 2 - those figures came from 32 appearances and only 11 starts.

Blackburn Rovers signing Sambou Soumano would be a "statement of intent"

Football League World's Blackburn fan pundit Simon Middlehurst has admitted that he is excited by the reports linking Soumano to Ewood Park.

He feels that Rovers have been lacking a proper striker for some time now, and that, hopefully, this uncharacteristic spending could be the start of better days in the transfer market at the Lancashire outfit.

"This would be a real coup and a massive statement of intent if Rovers were able to pull this off," Middlehurst told FLW.

"We lacked a goalscorer, an out-and-out goalscorer, last season. We haven't had a consistent goalscorer since Sammie Szmodics left. So, you know, that is something that we really do need.

"The fans have always said that the club does need to start investing more in players and start to spend more money.

"So the fact that we've been linked to Soumano is great and it just shows that hopefully, as a club, and as a team, we're looking to move in the right direction, and Valerien Ismael is hopefully building a squad that can start competing in the Championship."

Blackburn Rovers have to bring in a striker before the transfer window shuts to help Valerien Ismael

Two of the club's top three Championship goalscorers from last season - Tyrhys Dolan and Andi Weimann, who both netted seven times in the 2024/25 campaign - have left the club this summer.

It's actually quite a staggering achievement that, at one point on the final day, they were going to finish in the top six without having a player who found the back of the net at least 10 times across the league term, with Yuki Ohashi and Makhtar Gueye not proving to be prolific goal-getters.

But that isn't sustainable long-term. Their options up front need to be addressed, and their efforts in the market so far haven't done so.

Effective strikers aren't easy to find at the best of times. With just days left in the window, Blackburn have a race on their hands to bring in someone like Soumano - one that they could find has some hurdles along the way.

We've seen before how the club can mess up deals for sought-after centre-forwards, with the Duncan McGuire case likely still lingering in the minds of fans - they can't afford to mess up like that again.