Blackburn Rovers fury launched after fresh transfer setback - "The board needs sacking" | OneFootball

FLW's Blackburn Rovers fan pundit has urged the club to remove Rudy Gestede from his position after the Ryotaro Ito saga

Blackburn Rovers have pulled out of a deal to sign Ryotaro Ito due to an issue that appeared during his medical.

According to the Lancashire Telegraph, terms on a contract had been agreed with the Japan international, but an ankle issue has scuppered the move.

Ryotaro Ito not signing for Blackburn Rovers after fresh transfer twist

Ito is currently a free agent following his exit from Belgian side Sint-Truiden earlier in the summer, which means he could have been registered outside of the transfer window.

Clubs are still capable of adding a free agent to their squad, provided they have the space in their 25-man squads.

But Ito will not be making the switch to Ewood Park, with the deal now off due to Rovers getting a second opinion on the playmaker's ankle issue.

Tony Mowbray has been left frustrated by the Blackburn hierarchy, with the 62-year-old back at the helm since the summer for a second stint in charge of Rovers, and this latest saga, which flip-flopped a number of times on September 10, is the latest in a long line of setbacks for the Ewood Park outfit.

Blackburn Rovers fans are fed up after Ryotaro Ito saga

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When asked about the situation involving Ito, FLW’s Blackburn fan pundit Simon Middlehurst claimed that the club have become a laughing stock under the current leadership.

He expressed his anger at their continued inability to complete signings, and compared the situation with the 28-year-old to securing the signing of an injured Moussa Baradji last season, suggesting Rudy Gestede should be removed from his position at Ewood Park.

“It’s just an absolute joke, isn’t it? Blackburn, we’re just a laughing stock,” Middlehurst told Football League World.

“We can never get anything right transfer-wise.

“Ito has got an ankle problem, apparently, that could’ve been sorted.

“Baradji was injured for three months last season, yet Gestede thought it would be a good idea to sign him.

“No one’s got any idea, or what clue, what is going on in that club anymore.

“We’re just a laughing stock.

“We can’t get anything right, it’s the same thing every transfer window; nothing goes right for us.

“The board needs sacking, Gestede needs sacking, there’s something going on at that club that just isn’t right.

“Everyone else can do transfers, apart from us, everyone else can do transfers right, apart from us, it is getting beyond a joke now.”

Ito spent three seasons in the Belgian Pro League, making 104 appearances in the division in that time, contributing 19 goals and 12 assists.

He was a key player last season as Sint-Truiden finished third in the standings, but departed at the end of the campaign due to the expiry of his contract.

The 28-year-old is now a free agent, but it remains to be seen where he will end up following the collapse of his potential move to Blackburn - could another EFL club swoop in?

Blackburn Rovers hierarchy face further wrath of fanbase after Ito saga

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Blackburn have become a laughing stock, as this is far from their first fiasco in the transfer market in just the last few years - just think back to the deadline day deals for the likes of Lewis O'Brien and Duncan McGuire that fell through due to administrative errors.

The recent summer window was bad enough with the lack of new signings, but there was genuine excitement over bringing in someone with Ito's record from last season - but their dithering over a potential physical problem has seen them now go back to square one.

Gestede is under an immense amount of pressure now, as he has been unable to win over the fans since taking on such a prominent recruitment role, and the decision to pull out of the Ito deal, despite sanctioning a move for Moussa Baradji last season despite being injured for months at the time, will likely lead to claims of hypocrisy.

Mowbray has been let down by not being sufficiently backed in the transfer market after the team only narrowly avoided relegation last season.

The Ito situation is only so dire because Blackburn are in a position where they need to scour the free agent market at all, which is damning in itself as they had three months to properly address the issues in their squad when the summer window was open.