Blackburn Rovers given £20m reality check as five major Venky’s mistakes cited

Add as preferred source on Google

Blackburn Rovers had a mixed transfer window and EFL Analysis’ chief finance expert believes that while some player sales were necessary, one transfer decision was ‘criminal’.

Valerien Ismael’s squad has been boosted by top target Ryoya Morishita and Birmingham City loanee Taylor Gardner-Hickman among others, but a lot of familiar faces left the building.

Dom Hyam was sold to Wrexham, with club captain Lewis Travis also exiting and reuniting with John Eustace at Derby County, following two other Rovers players. Six players left for fees while six departed for nothing.

Williams believes Blackburn had to pocket that money, given their large operating loss – but this could have been avoided if they didn’t make five key previous errors.

• READ MORE: Southampton and Portsmouth fans are already arguing who is more successful ahead of South Coast derby

Blackburn Rovers made error letting Ben Brereton Diaz and others go for free

EFL Analysis’ chief finance expert, Adam Williams, has assessed Blackburn’s summer business, and he thinks Rovers have been ‘smarter’ in their transfer dealings this summer, given their previous stars left for less than they should have.

He said: “In recent history, Blackburn have been useless at getting value from players when they are still able to. Ben Brereton Diaz, Joe Rothwell, Ryan Nyambe, Darragh Lenihan – these are all players who the club should have got good fees for. This summer, Tyrhys Dolan has become the latest.

“When you’re losing £20m every season at the operating level, that’s the kind of money you just can’t afford to leave on the table. This summer, I think they have actually been a little smarter and got decent fees for some good players. We can argue about how well they have reinvested that money – they have certainly gambled, but the jury is still out.”

Williams thinks that ideally, Blackburn would have kept Travis, but the captain clearly wanted to go and was able to get a better pay packet at Derby County. He believes it was probably a similar situation with Callum Brittain. Rovers got a seven-figure fee for Harry Leonard, who is now 21 and if he didn’t have a big impact soon, was likely to have little sale value in the next few years. In Igor Tyjon, they have a youngster coming through who Rovers will have higher hopes for.

• READ MORE: Sheffield United have eight months to resolve contract issue for ‘tidy’ ace Chris Wilder loved

“So in that scenario, I think you’ve got to take the money,” Williams said. “There is a separate conversation to be had about why some of these senior players are leaving, however. Clearly, there is some cultural issues at the club that must be resolved, though I don’t have much optimism of that.”

There is one transfer dealing Williams cannot wrap his head around though.

Blackburn should not have sold Dominic Hyam to Wrexham

Dominic Hyam’s departure to Wrexham on deadline day for £2.7million left Rovers incredibly light at centre-back.

Williams said: “With the Hyam sale I don’t think there can be any excuses for the last-minute nature of the sale. I could have seen the rationale if it was earlier in the window for similar reasons as I have already mentioned, but to do it at the eleventh hour without a replacement is criminal.

“Again, they got a good fee in isolation considering how long was left on his contract, but having a reliable centre-back could be the difference between staying up or going down, which is worth far more than £2.7m even over the course of just a single season.”

Blackburn now only have three senior options at the club that operate in Hyam’s position.