Expert offers ‘messy’ Blackburn Rovers owners verdict that fans will fear amid Dejphon Chansiri comparison

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Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has shared his damning verdict on Blackburn Rovers’ owners, with the club’s financial fiasco under the Venky’s laid bare.

Blackburn Rovers finished the 2024/25 campaign just shy of a top-six finish, ending two points behind sixth-placed Bristol City.

Valerien Ismael’s side drew 1-1 with Sheffield United on the final day, but failed to enter the play-off places.

As such, the Ewood Park outfit are condemned to a place in the 2025/26 Championship campaign, with an imperative summer transfer window ahead for Rovers.

Despite exceeding expectations on the pitch last season in the Championship, there is turmoil at boardroom level for Blackburn currently.

One football finance expert has shared the staggering nine-figure fee the club’s owners have lost since acquiring Blackburn, and what this means for the future at Rovers.

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Football finance expert shares worrying Blackburn Rovers verdict

The Venky’s completed the Blackburn Rovers takeover in November 2010, in a deal which reportedly was worth £23m for payment of shares, and saw the company take on £20m in club debt.

Since then, the club has been relegated from the top flight, with Blackburn last in the Premier League in 2012.

EFL Analysis understands that the Venkys are not looking to sell Blackburn, despite growing pressure from the fanbase for the ownership to do so, considering the absentee owners have not attended a game in 12 years.

Sam Allardyce revealed earlier this season that he thinks the Venkys should sell Blackburn. Now, football finance expert, Kieran Maguire, has revealed the staggering sum of money the Venkys have lost since taking over at Ewood Park in 2010.

He told the Second tier Podcast: “My understanding is that they are now committed to paying around about four and a half million pounds over the summer months.

“That’s simply to keep the lights on. That’s to pay the wage bill over the course of the summer months.

“And they’re trying to get an arrangement now with the Indian tax authorities and with the Indian court authorities, which means that they don’t have to get a court approval before they can send money to the UK, as has been the case over the course of the last two seasons.

“So they have been cutting things to the bone. They’ve lost the women’s team as a result of that. And I think that’s a shame for a, the people involved, and b, for the opportunities for the women’s team to grow in Lancashire.”

In further damning news for Rovers fans, Maguire likened the situation at Ewood Park to the current financial turmoil at league rivals Sheffield Wednesday.

With takeover talks in place, Owls chairman Dejphon Chansiri has overseen the club’s chaos of late, and Sheffield Wednesday owner Chansiri has set an “astronomical asking price, far above the £75m offers knocked back for Wecnesday.

Maguire added: “So, yeah, it’s messy as far as Blackburn is concerned. Why has nobody bought the club?

“I think we could also be entering sort of Chansiri (Dejphon Chansiri, Sheffield Wednesday owner) territory in the sense of what the owners think Blackburn’s worth and what the market thinks Blackburn are worth are far apart.

“The Venkys have lost £200million pounds since they acquired Blackburn Rovers, and they probably want to get a bigger chunk of that back than realistically a sensible prospective buyer would be willing to pay.”

As well as the damning verdict on the financial, Ismael’s playing squad is set to be stripped of prized assets within the summer window, which will make his aim to better last season’s seventh-placed finish even harder.

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Valerien Ismael poised to lose key Blackburn Rovers players in transfer window

Ahead of what is expected to be the best Championship season yet, Rovers boss Ismael will be without two crucial stars from last season’s top-six push.

Rovers captain Lewis Travis has been garnering interest this summer, with new Championship rivals Wrexham targeting Travis.

EFL Analysis understands that Blackburn will make a Travis deal tough for any second tier rivals to complete.

However, the decision appears to be out of their hands when it comes to forward Tyrhys Dolan, who is poised to become a Championship free agent.

Norwich were told to sign Dolan and beat Middlesbrough to his signature, after Blackburn offered Dolan a new deal, which the 23-year-old has failed to accept.

Boro led the chase for Dolan, but since then Norwich have held talks with Dolan, and his absence from Ismael’s squad will be hard to replace after he scored seven goals and notched three assists in 44 Championship appearances last season.

With the club in financial trouble, according to Maguire, the last thing the Ewood Park faithful will want to see is the departure of two prized assets, which further fuels their desire to see the Venky’s depart.