Blackburn Rovers will have no regrets over transfer that didn't even cost them £1m | OneFootball

FLW's Blackburn fan pundit has given his verdict on the £750,000 fee paid to sign Bradley Dack

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…

The signing of Bradley Dack to Blackburn Rovers from Gillingham in 2017 cost around £750,000 to complete.

It was reported that the playmaker arrived for a six-figure sum following the Lancashire outfit’s relegation to League One.

The now 31-year-old made a strong first impression with supporters, contributing 18 goals and one assist in the third tier to help the side gain promotion straight away in 2018.

He took the step-up to the Championship in his stride, scoring 15 times from 42 appearances in that first campaign back in the division for Blackburn.

However, injuries hampered the remainder of his stint at Ewood Park, and he made just 74 more league appearances across the next four campaigns before departing as a free agent.

Injuries held back Bradley Dack’s career

When asked if the £750,000 deal was a masterstroke, FLW’s Blackburn fan pundit Simon Middlehurst claimed the move was massive for their promotion success in 2018.

But he believes that the playmaker will always lead to questions of what-if due to the injury issues he sustained, which potentially cost him the chance to play in the Premier League.

“Bradley Dack was massive for the club when we went down into League One,” Middlehurst told Football League World.

“He was a big part of us coming straight back up again.

“He was also a part of a really strong dressing room, he was a big character within the dressing room, and he was just a great player.

“When we got promoted, a lot of people questioned whether he could do it at the Championship.

“And that first season back in the Championship he really delivered, scoring a few goals for Blackburn, not only keeping us up but cementing us in the Championship, finishing mid-table.

“It was just a shame that he was hampered by two serious knee injuries.

“It’s always one of those things, what if he hadn’t suffered those two injuries, what sort of impact would he have had on the club going forward, and also for him personally.

“There were a lot of rumours at the time of Premier League clubs being interested in him, would he have been able to go on and play in the Premier League?

“It’s one of those what if questions.

“He was a really great player for the club, the fans loved him, and he was a big part of the dressing room at the time under Tony Mowbray.”

It was reported in 2019 that Blackburn had set an £18 million asking price for Dack amid interest from Aston Villa and Brighton, who were both competing in the Premier League.

No move materialised, and he remained at Ewood Park all the way until his contract expired in 2023.

He made the move to Sunderland following his exit from Rovers, and he now plies his trade with Gillingham in League Two, returning to the side he left to join the Lancashire outfit.

Bradley Dack signing was great even if injuries were a missed opportunity

Dack’s impact in his first two seasons alone more than justified the £750,000 price paid to sign him in 2017.

It’s easy to imagine him reaching the Premier League without the injury issues that hampered the rest of his time at Ewood Park.

The £18 million fee would’ve been a huge profit on the signing of Dack, had anyone met that asking price.

While the club may feel they missed out massively because of Dack’s recurring injury issues, his role in their promotion and subsequent stability in the Championship shouldn’t be forgotten either.