Blackburn Rovers will surely take Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace transfer trade-off | OneFootball

Blackburn missed out on a loan deal for Jeffrey Schlupp, but it may have provided them with the funds to secure Emmanuel Dennis instead.

Blackburn Rovers’ January transfer window ended with a flourish as they tied up deals for no less than four players in the closing days of the window.

Midfielder Augustus Kargbo and former Nottingham Forest defender Yuri Ribeiro joined from Cesena and Benfica respectively, before deals to sign strikers Cauley Woodrow and Emmanuel Dennis were announced shortly after the winter window had closed.

The latter two are particularly important additions for Blackburn, as they have needed more depth in their attacking ranks for the vast majority of the campaign.

Currently sat fifth in the Championship, John Eustace’s men are now surely well set to defend their play-off position and earn themselves a potential shot at a Premier League return come May.

Blackburn were linked with Jeffrey Schlupp and ended up with Emmanuel Dennis

Throughout the January transfer window, Rovers had been linked with a move for Crystal Palace utility man Jeffrey Schlupp.

Now 32, Schlupp has a wealth of experience at Premier League level across eleven seasons shared between Crystal Palace and Leicester City. He was first linked with a move to Blackburn by The Sun in the opening few days of the window.

As Rovers’ interest in the Ghanian rumbled on, it was reported by Alan Nixon midway through the month that Championship rivals Coventry City were set to beat Blackburn to the loan deal.

Schlupp made 29 appearances in the Premier League for the Eagles last term, and would have been a fantastic addition for Blackburn, who will be harbouring top flight ambitions of their own given how the first half of their season has gone.

The midfielder ultimately ended up moving north of the border on deadline day, joining Celtic on a loan deal.

With their chase for Schlupp drawing to a close, Blackburn were instead able to pick up Emmanuel Dennis on loan from Nottingham Forest until the end of the season.

Given Rovers’ record in front of goal this season, it could be a vital signing in their bid to secure a spot in the second tier play-offs.

Blackburn will be happy with the Schlupp and Dennis trade-off

Although Blackburn will undoubtedly be disappointed about missing out on a player of Schlupp’s quality, they can at least take solace from the fact that they have addressed another key area of their squad.

Goals have proven to be a problem for Eustace’s side all season, and their tally of 35 league strikes is the lowest of any side in the Championship’s top half. Their steely backline has made up for their struggles in front of goal, but there has always been that nagging doubt that they have needed more up front to sustain a genuine play-off push.

As a result, Rovers must surely be pleased with how their deadline day played out. Missing out on Schlupp was obviously a blow, but it’s likely that the money they would have spent covering his Crystal Palace wages has instead been put towards paying Dennis’ wages.

According to Alan Nixon, Blackburn are paying around £20,000 a week of Dennis’ substantial Premier League wages, which could prove to be a much better use of Blackburn’s money.

The Nigerian frontman has been frozen out at Forest in recent years, having been left out of their 25-man Premier League squad in each of the last two seasons.

However, he certainly has a strong goalscoring pedigree that Blackburn will back themselves to unlock once again. The 27-year-old reached double figures in the top flight for Watford back in 2021/22 and also notched six assists in what was an impressive individual season.

He went out on loan to the Hornets last year and scored four times in 16 Championship games.

There is definitely an element of risk to the deal given just how little football the Nigerian has played in the last few seasons, but if Blackburn can create chances for him, he has proven himself in the past to be a more than capable finisher.

If Dennis can provide the goals to fire Blackburn into the play-offs and potentially all the way to promotion, missing out on Schlupp will feel less and less important as the days go by.