Blackburn Rovers should avoid signing former Aston Villa star to fix defensive problems

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Blackburn Rovers brought in several defensive reinforcements this summer, yet have somehow left themselves in a situation where they need to sign another centre back.

Valerien Ismael and the club have only three senior centre backs at the club following their summer business, which has left them needing to examine the free agent market to solve this problem.

While some may look at it as an opportunity for the club to allow exciting prospect Tom Atcheson a chance to grow and develop, there is concern, as Blackburn are only welcoming Scott Wharton back after a long lay-off through injury and Sean McLoughlin is currently suspended.

Blackburn have been linked to signing experienced Craig Dawson, who could be a good short-term solution for Rovers; however, there is one free agent that they should avoid.

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Blackburn Rovers should avoid signing Kortney Hause

The Lancashire club will be exploring options for who they can sign for free this summer to help fix their lack of cover at centre back.

However, they should avoid bringing in Kortney Hause due to his poor injury record while at Aston Villa.

The 30-year-old has spent the last seven seasons at Aston Villa, with one of those being on loan at Watford for the 2023/24 campaign.

However, across this time he has only made 58 appearances, with only three coming in the last three seasons while he was at Watford, with not one coming in an Aston Villa strip.

The lack of appearances is seemingly down to the poor injury record of Hause, and this would be an issue for Blackburn, who need an option that will be fit throughout the season and one who is reliable for selection.

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Kortney Hause sent a message on his fitness

The central defender has spoken about his nightmare of the last three seasons at Aston Villa, where he did not make one appearance; his last appearance for them came under Steven Gerrard in January 2022, when they won 1-0 against Everton.

The former Wolves defender signed for Villa on loan for Dean Smith in 2019, and he helped the club secure promotion back to the top flight later that year.

In March 2025 Hause appeared to be in good spirits about his future, sadly not with Aston Villa but in general for his footballing career after a serious knee injury.

The Instagram account HealingHandsMassage shared a photo of Hause giving the thumbs up while lying on his massage bed. Hause himself added the caption ‘Looking good. Feeling better. Gotta fight the good fight’, along with lion and thumbs-up emojis, as reported by Birmingham Live.