Blackburn Rovers will love Stoke City transfer miss now - Brighton deal is golden | OneFootball

Blackburn Rovers signed Eiran Cashin over Ben Gibson this January

Blackburn Rovers were interested in signing Stoke City defender Ben Gibson at the beginning of the January window, but opted for Brighton’s Eiran Cashin instead, which is looking increasingly likely to have been the correct decision.

Blackburn Rovers haven’t endured the best of seasons, though things are beginning to look up at Ewood Park.

Valerien Ismael’s tenure at the helm of the Lancashire outfit came to an end at the beginning of February, with the club embroiled in a battle towards the bottom of the table.

Injuries did not help the Frenchman’s case, but one win in 14 league games meant that the club had little choice but to act quickly and replace him.

Gary Rowett was sounded out as a potential option before joining Leicester City, with Blackburn deciding on former Stoke City and current Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill to be the man to guide them through choppy waters, and he got off to a brilliant start with a 3-1 victory over Queen’s park Rangers.

Excellent in that game was defender Eiran Cashin, who spent the first half of the campaign on loan with Birmingham City with little success, but since his move to Ewood Park, has found a home and settled in nicely.

Cashin was one of several reinforcements made in the January window, though his signing may well not have happened had they struck a deal with Stoke instead.

Blackburn signed Eiran Cashin ahead of Stoke City’s Ben Gibson

As per Alan Nixon, heading into the January window, Blackburn had registered an interest in Stoke defender Ben Gibson, with the 33-year-old emerging as a potential target to bolster their defensive options.

Gibson has struggled for game time ever since the arrival of Mark Robins in the Potteries, and looked likely to be on his way out of the club if it wasn’t for the injury crisis Stoke were hit by at the time.

With each of Eric Bocat, Aaron Cresswell, and Junior Tchamadeu, the Potters were left without a recognised senior full-back, with the left-footed Gibson coming into the side for three games and performing admirably before he too was hit with an injury.

At this point, Blackburn has already set their sights elsewhere and moved for Irish defender Cashin, who was made available for another loan move to the Championship from Brighton after being recalled from his bleak spell with Birmingham.

Gibson has not made an appearance since the beginning of January and looks set to remain as an emergency option at Stoke for the remainder of the campaign, with it looking as though Blackburn made the correct call to opt for Cashin instead.

Eiran Cashin has impressed at Blackburn since his loan switch from Brighton

Since his arrival at Ewood Park, Cashin has reminded everyone why Brighton paid Derby County £9 million for his services back in January 2025.

Cashin signed a five-and-a-half year deal with the Seagulls, though struggled to make an impact in Fabian Hurzeler’s side upon his arrival, allowing him to make the move back to the Championship this campaign, initially with Birmingham and now with Blackburn.

He has played all but one game for the Lancashire outfit since his arrival, missing only their 3-1 away defeat to Swansea City, and has seriously impressed in that time, even scoring the only goal in Blackburn’s 1-0 home victory over Sheffield Wednesday.

With Lewis Miller set to miss the rest of the season, Cashin’s presence in O’Neill’s back line has become all the more important, with the Irishman set to play a crucial role between now and the end of the season.

However, things could have been very different had Blackburn opted to wait for Gibson instead, with it looking like the correct call to go for Cashin instead, who could well prove to be the difference between relegation and survival.