Blackburn Rovers must regret £600k transfer miss for star who has scored in the Champions League this season | OneFootball

Blackburn Rovers were once interested in signing Union Saint-Gilloise defender Ross Sykes

Having scored his first-ever Champions League goal for Union Saint-Gilloise against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday evening, Blackburn Rovers may be looking back with regret that they didn't pursue a deal for their former transfer target.

Ross Sykes nodded home a Sofiane Boufal set piece at the back post at the Wanda Metropolitano for Union Saint-Gilloise in the Champions League on Tuesday night, yet his journey to that moment has been nothing short of remarkable.

Having spent time in the academy of Burnley, English defender Sykes made the move to fellow Lancashire side Accrington Stanley in 2012, having been persuaded to take a trial at the club by his mother after considering quitting pursuing a career in the game.

He signed his first professional contract in 2016 and made his professional debut just months later in a 3-0 defeat to Crewe Alexandra in the EFL Trophy.

The Englishman struggled for game time initially and would head out on loan to Southport in the National League North, where he would make six appearances before his return to Accrington, and would appear more frequently in League One.

Sykes made 20 appearances in the 2018/19 campaign, his first full season at the club, and would become a regular the following year. However, in the 20/21 season, the Burnley-born defender found his game time to be limited, largely down to sustaining a knee injury, making just nine appearances in League One that season.

He'd return to the side for the 21/22 season, making 39 appearances in League One that season, scoring three and assisting four from defence, which went majorly under the radar in England, but certainly not in Belgium.

Having been a standout for Accrington in the English third tier, Brussels-based outfit Union Saint-Gilloise took a punt on Sykes, who signed the six-foot-five-inch defender for a mere £250k, joining compatriot and former Portsmouth defender Christian Burgess in the process.

The Englishman struggled for consistent game time in his first season in the Belgian capital, making just 18 appearances across the Jupiler Pro League season, with only 12 of those coming as starts, but it was already a meteoric rise for Sykes, who had struggled for appearances in League One just two years earlier.

Following his first season in Belgium, Lancashire came calling once more, as Alan Nixon reported that Sykes was a target for Jon Dahl Tomasson at Blackburn Rovers, with USG demanding around £600k for the centre-back.

However, the move would not transpire, and Sykes would remain in the Belgian capital, where he remains to this day, with Blackburn opting to sign Dominic Hyam from Coventry City instead.

In Union Saint-Gilloise's tie against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, Sykes rose high at the back post to nod home former Southampton winger Boufal's cross from the left to give the Belgian outfit a glimmer of hope by making the score 2-1.

Although the game would ultimately end 3-1 with Marcos Llorente firing home in stoppage time, it was a moment Sykes will never forget, in what is the pinnacle of his career so far.

Ross Sykes has thrived in the Belgian capital since his move from Accrington Stanley in June 2022

Indeed, a large reason behind the Belgian outfit's interest and knowledge of League One football at the time of Sykes' arrival was that of former majority shareholder Tony Bloom, who has overseen the rise of Brighton and Hove Albion as chairman and recently acquired a stake in Scottish side Heart of Midlothian.

Bloom's data-led recruitment strategy has paid dividends over the years, transforming Brighton into a top-half Premier League side, Union Saint-Gilloise into Belgian champions, and already has Hearts challenging Rangers and Celtic for the Scottish Premiership.

Sykes has gone on to become a key member of Les Unionistes squad since his arrival, having made over 100 appearances to date across all competitions, including each of the three UEFA continental competitions, scoring 12 and grabbing three assists in that period.

The Englishman played a major part in Union Saint-Gilloise's league triumph last season, playing the full 90 minutes in the final game of the season as the club achieved their first top-flight league title in 90 years, having come close the previous three.

It would be fair to suggest that Sykes, who eight years ago was playing in the National League North, is thriving on the continent, winning league titles and scoring goals in Europe.