How much money Blackburn Rovers could pay for fresh Michael O’Neill agreement | OneFootball

O'Neill's long-term future remains up in the air after combining club and international roles

Blackburn Rovers' divisional status for next season is still far from secured, but they were able to take a huge step towards ensuring their survival on Good Friday as they defeated Birmingham City at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park.

Michael O'Neill's side took three crucial points back to Ewood Park when Todd Cantwell fired past James Beadle 21 minutes from time, making it seven points from the last nine available either side of the Championship campaign's final international break.

Developments in this part of East Lancashire have certainly grabbed headlines in recent days too, and plenty of it has related to O'Neill's dual-management of Rovers and the Northern Ireland national team.

Indeed, the 56-year-old was accused of a conflict of interest as players from his international squad withdrew ahead of last Tuesday's friendly with Wales at the Cardiff City Stadium, days after Northern Ireland's dreams of reaching the FIFA World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico were dashed by Italy in the play-off semi-final.

There were, of course, sceptics when O'Neill had been confirmed as the man to take charge at Ewood on an initial short-term basis after Valerien Ismael was relieved of his duties on February 2nd after an eight-game winless streak.

However, the experienced figure has, to an extent, silenced those as Blackburn have picked up a handful of impressive results as they look to avoid a first fall into League One since 2018, when they were promoted under Tony Mowbray.

And, a new update regarding his long-term future has emerged over the course of the Easter weekend, ahead of what is a crucial encounter against relegation rivals, West Bromwich Albion, on Monday afternoon.

How much money Blackburn Rovers will have to pay to retain Michael O'Neill revealed amid Northern Ireland saga

The current stint with Blackburn is also O'Neill's first spell back as a Championship manager since his exit from Stoke City in August 2022.

Since taking charge on a dual-role basis on February 13th, Rovers have accumulated 14 points from a possible 27, which has started to steer them away from the bottom three.

There is currently a six-point buffer between themselves and both Leicester City and Oxford United, who are both tied on 40 points in 22nd and 23rd place respectively.

Despite helping the club achieve a relative upturn in fortunes in a short timeframe, O'Neill initially revealed after Northern Ireland's 2-0 defeat to Italy in Bergamo on March 26th: "I will manage the remaining seven games for Blackburn, but my contract is still with the Irish FA. I'm contracted to 2028 and after Blackburn, I will revert back to the status quo, which is the national team manager."

Whilst that was the most the Portadown-born man had given away in terms of his immediate future, a fresh twist has reportedly emerged in this saga.

It has been claimed by Alan Nixon - via Patreon - that Blackburn will pay the compensation figure of approximately £250,000 required to buy their interim boss out of his Northern Ireland contract.

The Championship side are said to be readying a three-year contract for O'Neill, which would run until the summer of 2029.

Blackburn Rovers will hope to tempt Michael O'Neill into permanent Ewood Park stay

Given the upturn in results, it is no surprise that the Ewood Park hierarchy are keen to tie O'Neill down to a long-term contract as they look to progress in the coming years despite a well-documented disconnect between themselves and supporters.

It, of course, remains to be seen if they will be successful in those aims, especially given his recent comments as Northern Ireland return to competitive action through the UEFA Nations League in September, and then will be looking to qualify for UEFA Euro 2028, which takes place in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland.