Blackburn Rovers issue transfer saga statement as date set for hearing ahead of Stoke clash
News from the Championship as Stoke City prepare to take on Blackburn Rovers in a big match in the bottom half
The EFL board will meet on Thursday to discuss another Blackburn Rovers transfer saga and a flailing attempt to sign United States striker Duncan McGuire.
Blackburn pulled out of a deal to sign McGuire from Orlando City on the day before deadline day last week, while he was on a flight to the UK. But the move was resurrected and the club released an announcement at 11pm on Thursday to say he he had joined on a loan-to-buy arrangement subject to international clearance and visa checks.
It then emerged, however, that there were issues with the paperwork that Blackburn submitted and the player is currently in limbo, as happened to Lewis O’Brien when Blackburn had a problem bringing him in from Nottingham Forest this time last year
McGuire remains in England for now and club lawyers have submitted documents to the league in hope that he will get the green light to join in for the rest of the season. A run of one win in 11 has seen Rovers drop towards the relegation zone and they are only one point above 20th-placed Stoke City ahead of a huge match at Ewood Park on Saturday.
If the EFL say no, Blackburn will try to come to an agreement with Orlando that McGuire can make the switch to Lancashire at the start of the summer window.
A club statement says: “Duncan McGuire’s proposed loan move to Blackburn Rovers from MLS side Orlando City has not been approved by the EFL to date due to the registration documents being submitted after the 11pm transfer
deadline. All of the necessary signed paperwork had been completed prior to 10pm on Thursday, February 1. However, due to an administrative error, the forms were not processed within the prescribed time.
