Blackburn Rovers sale concern emerges over Everton-linked star | OneFootball

FLW's Rovers Fan Pundit has his say on Ryan Alebiosu's future at Ewood Park

Blackburn Rovers will know they can’t afford a repeat of this season’s relegation scare, and the summer window will be crucial in putting things right.

Even so, the Venkys may still decide to cash in on one of their star players if the right offer arrives, as they have often done in the past.

Speaking on recruitment, Michael O'Neill, who's still undecided on his future position as Rovers' manager, told BBC Radio Lancashire, “There will be a churn, I don’t think there will be a heavy churn of players.

"...It is not a question of 15 players leaving out of that squad, that will be a challenge to get the squad to a point where we want to be looking up rather than looking down."

One player who could be involved in that churn, though, is Ryan Alebiosu, who Premier League side Everton were reportedly linked with in the winter window.

Ryan Alebiosu exit fear raised at Blackburn Rovers

It goes without saying that Alebiosu was one of the Championship’s standout attacking full-backs this past season, ending the 25/26 campaign with one goal and four assists.

For someone playing in the second tier of English football for the first time, it’s no surprise he has already attracted some attention from higher leagues, with reported January interest coming from the aforementioned Toffees, Wolfsburg, Sassuolo and Genoa.

As a result, FLW’s Rovers fan pundit, Simon Middlehurst, believes a summer sale would not come as a shock, especially since the club are well-known to sell their 'best' players.

Middlehurst said, "It wouldn’t surprise me if they did," when asked whether the 24-year-old right-sided player could be sold by the Venkys in the summer.

"Even before the Venkys, Blackburn has been a selling club. If you look at the history of bringing players in, they’re doing well for us, then selling them on and making a profit," the Fan Pundit added.

As per transfermarkt, the top three record departures at Rovers have been Damien Duff, David Bentley and Roque Santa Cruz. All three of these players were sold before the Venkys bought the club.

Then, you only have to look at the likes of Adam Armstrong, Adam Wharton and Sammie Szmodics from recent windows to know that the club continues to sell for profit.

Middlehurst added, "So, if a decent bid did come in for him [Alebiosu], it wouldn’t surprise me if Blackburn did accept it. Especially now, you know, we have always been known as a club that needs to sell to buy, and after the season that he’s had it wouldn’t surprise me."

Summer transfer bids 'expected' at Blackburn Rovers for Ryan Alebiosu

Ultimately, Middlehurst’s initial words are a pretty fair read of the potential situation that may happen at Ewood Park in the summer involving Alebiosu.

When you factor in that one of the Italian clubs interested in the Nigerian - Genoa - had an apparent £4.3m bid rejected just before the January deadline, a summer move feels even more possible, or at least more offers.

The Fan Pundit concluded his verdict by telling FLW, "Fully expecting somebody to come in, decent sized offer, and Blackburn accepting it."

It's not known yet what sort of fee Blackburn would actually be looking for when it comes to selling Alebiosu, but you could hazard a guess that it'd be more than what many consider to be 'decent'.

If another club, potentially Everton, comes back with a bigger bid than Genoa's, then you can perhaps almost guarantee that Blackburn would consider it.