"Proven goalscorer" - Blackburn Rovers: Transfer regret voiced over Birmingham City's Jay Stansfield | OneFootball

FLW's Blackburn Rovers fan pundit regrets missing out on Birmingham City striker Jay Stansfield.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Blackburn Rovers replaced Sammie Szmodics with the likes of Makhtar Gueye, Yuki Ohashi, Andi Weimann, and Todd Cantwell to bolster John Eustace's ranks.

Having only avoided relegation to League One on the final day of last season, Rovers and Eustace were hoping to pull well clear of any danger and climb back up the table in the current campaign, and they have had a strong start to the season.

However, recently Blackburn went four games without a win which included three defeats. They got back on track with a 3-1 win thanks to a brace from Weimann. Goals haven't always flowed from their new-look frontline, although the transfer window was a positive one for the Lancashire outfit following the loss of last season's Championship Golden Boot winner.

Nine new players came in, meaning the squad does look to be stronger than it was in the previous campaign, and so far, Blackburn's results are largely backing that up. Gueye and Cantwell are yet to notch, but both Ohashi and Weimann have scored four apiece, highlighting a squad without a main man like last season.

The verdict on Blackburn Rovers' strikers in 2024/25

We asked FLW's Blackburn fan pundit Toby Wilding for his thoughts on who the player is that they were linked to but didn't sign, but who he wishes the club had. A striker was the obvious answer, but who and why?

He said: "While I wouldn't have liked to have seen the sorts of amounts Birmingham City reportedly did, it would have been quite nice if the links to Jay Stansfield in the summer had materialised into a move.

"I think we've seen at the start of this season that perhaps the lack of a proven goalscorer, at this level, has hampered Blackburn in attack at times.

"And, obviously, Stansfield showed it in a struggling Birmingham side last season. He can get goals at this level, so he would certainly have been useful to help fill that void and add to that firepower.

"It also would have obviously been Eustace working with him again, who knows him from that time at St. Andrew's together.

"Which could certainly have made it an effective partnership again, so that is one I would have certainly liked to have seen if possible."

Jay Stansfield's summer links to Blackburn

According to Alan Nixon, Rovers were in the race for the big-money Birmingham signing prior to his deadline day move. It's hard to argue that he wouldn't have been a fantastic signing for Blackburn, especially as they are less reliant on one player now, but you have to question whether they'd have been able to stump up the cash to do the deal.

He would have been a great addition in both the long and short-term, where other forwards are more likely to be short or medium-term investments instead. Despite missing out, Blackburn are evidently a better all-round outfit compared to last season.

Eustace may be the club's biggest asset, having helped guide them to safety last season and kicked on this term with a largely positive summer transfer window behind him in the Championship, where many of the new faces have helped to turn their fortunes around in 2024/25.

A play-off place at least would be a huge step in the right direction after narrowly avoiding the drop last term, but mid-table safety would also be seen as success after a difficult campaign last season.