Brighton may already be questioning Blackburn Rovers transfer: View | OneFootball

Brighton may already be questioning Blackburn Rovers transfer: View | OneFootball

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·28 February 2024

Brighton may already be questioning Blackburn Rovers transfer: View

Article image:Brighton may already be questioning Blackburn Rovers transfer: View

John Eustace, who was appointed Blackburn Rovers manager on 9th February, has undeniably steadied the ship at Ewood Park as Rovers have now gone four games unbeaten from their last five Championship encounters.

Poor form under former boss Jon Dahl Tomasson, which included four consecutive defeats in December, has resulted in the Lancashire outfit finding themselves in a relegation battle.


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Rovers did not have an ideal January transfer window as they lost key man Adam Wharton to Premier League outfit Crystal Palace in a deal worth an initial fee of £18m but one which could come as a dent to survival hopes.

However, the Ewood Park club did make some signings, including the addition of former Sheffield United midfielder John Fleck as well as a loan deal for Brighton youngster Yasin Ayari.

Brighton will be disappointed at the lack of game-time Ayari has had for Rovers

Since his arrival from the South Coast club in January, Ayari has made just two appearances for Rovers in the Championship, which came on 3rd February as the Lancashire outfit fell to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of QPR and on 20th February as the side played out a 0-0 draw with Cardiff City.

Both of Ayari's league appearances for Rovers have come off the substitute's bench so far, which is not what his parent club would have liked with his development in mind.

But most alarmingly for Brighton, is the fact that Ayari made more appearances under former Rovers boss Tomasson than he has done for Eustace so far, as the former boss also used the Swedish youngster as a substitute during his side's FA Cup wins over League One Cambridge United and League Two Wrexham as well as in the defeat to the R's.

The Premier League outfit may now be worried that a move to Ewood Park was not the right one for their youngster and that his lack of appearances could thwart his progress.

Ayari already had a disappointing loan spell at Coventry City this season

Article image:Brighton may already be questioning Blackburn Rovers transfer: View

At the beginning of the current campaign, the 20-year-old signed for the Sky Blues on a loan deal, but he made just seven starts in 13 appearances for Mark Robins' men, scoring on just one occasion.

Given that the Sky Blues are battling to reach the play-offs for a second consecutive season, and have exciting attacking players such as Haji Wright at their disposal, perhaps it is somewhat understandable that Ayari struggled for game-time there.

But Brighton will have hoped that a move to a Rovers side, who are significantly lower down the Championship table than the Sky Blues, would have seen their starlet being involved in first-team action.

However, this eventuality has not transpired, and his parent club may now regret both of the loan deals they have put in place for Ayari so far this season.

On the other hand, it is still only February, and Ayari still has a few months to convince Eustace that he is worthy of a spot in the Rovers starting 11.

But, these are worrying times for the Ewood Park side, who have to prioritise doing whatever they can to avoid relegation to League One, and that could mean selecting players with more experience than that of Ayari.

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