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Blackburn Rovers transfer news latest: Rak-Sakyi update, Danny Batth battle, frustrating David Raya to Arsenal development
Blackburn Rovers still have plenty of work to do in the summer transfer window.
Blackburn Rovers have already made several signings this summer, but there is still work to be done before the transfer window closes.
The club is interested in Crystal Palace winger Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, but face competition from other Championship clubs and Crystal Palace’s reluctance to let him go.
The potential signing of Danny Batth as a centre back is uncertain, as the club’s board has concerns about repeating past mistakes with similar signings like Daniel Ayala
It has already been a busy summer transfer window at Ewood Park for Blackburn Rovers.
Last week saw Leopold Walhstedt become the Championship club’s fourth signing of the summer transfer window, arriving as a replacement for Thomas Kaminski, following the goalkeeper’s move to newly promoted Premier League side Luton Town.
Walhstedt for his part, follows Niall Ennis, Sondre Tronstad and Arnor Siggurdson in putting pen to paper on a deal with Rovers this summer.
But with the likes of Bradley Dack, Ben Brereton-Diaz, Ashley Phillips, Tayo Edun, Daniel Ayala, Sorba Thomas and Tyler Morton all also leaving the club since the end of last season, there is still plenty of work for Blackburn to do before the window closes.
It is therefore no surprise to see plenty of speculation surrounding the club, and we’ve taken a look at some of the latest Blackburn Rovers transfer news to have emerged in recent days, right here.
One player who has seemingly emerged on Blackburn’s radar as a potential target this summer is Crystal Palace winger Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, who enjoyed an impressive campaign on loan in League One with Charlton Athletic last season.
However, it may not be easy for Rovers to get the winger to Ewood Park this summer, with the club one of just five in the Championship – along with Leicester, Ipswich, Birmingham and Hull – who have apparently held talks about the loan signing of the 20-year-old.
Meanwhile, Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson has indicated that his side cannot afford to let Rak-Sakyi go at this moment in time due to their lack of wide options. As a result, this is a deal that looks as though it would still require plenty of work from Rovers to make happen.
Following the departure of Ayala at the end of last season, an experienced centre back has seemingly been on the the agenda for Rovers this summer, and it had looked as though that could come in the form of Danny Batth.
Now though, it appears as though head coach Jon Dahl Tomasson could have a job on his hands, if he is to convince the Rovers board to make this deal happen.
According to journalist Alan Nixon, the deal to bring Batth to Ewood Park had been due for completion following the sale of Ashley Phillips to Tottenham last week. However, it is said, despite Tomasson’s desire to sign the 32-year-old, the club’s board are concerned about the similar circumstances to the signing of Ayala, meaning it now remains to be seen if this is a deal that will go through.
Will Blackburn benefit from Raya’s move to Arsenal?
With Rovers in a position where they need money to come into the club before they can spend on signings this summer, the situation around Brentford goalkeeper David Raya has always looked crucial to the Ewood Park club in recent weeks.
As part of the deal that took the Spaniard from Blackburn to Brentford back in 2019, the Championship club are entitled to a portion of the profit generated from the goalkeeper’s next move. Consequentially, the recent news that Arsenal are closing in on a deal for the 27-year-old will no doubt have generated a fair amount of excitement at Ewood Park.
That however, will surely have been subsequently dampened by the fact that it has been revealed by The Athletic that Raya will instead be joining the Gunners on loan for a fee of £3million, with the option to make that move permanent for a further £27million next summer. As a result, it seems Blackburn may now be facing the damaging prospect of missing out on what could have been a vital windfall in their quest to make some much-needed additions to their squad before the window closes at the end of this month.
