Burnley
Blackburn Rovers
Coventry City
Derby County
Leeds United
Luton Town
Middlesbrough
Millwall
Norwich City
Portsmouth
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield United
QPR
Blackburn Rovers have been busy in the transfer market this summer with several incomings and outgoings at Ewood Park.
There was a lot of criticism towards the Venky’s at the start of the transfer window, particularly with losing several key players to clubs on free transfers, with a notable departure being Tyrhys Dolan to Espanyol.
This may have led the Blackburn Rovers owners to seek transfer fees for players that wished to depart the club instead of allowing them to leave on a free at the end of their contract, and so Callum Britain moved to Middlesbrough, while former captain Lewis Travis finally completed his move to Derby County.
However, while the club began to recoup fees for their stars, there has been a noticeable outgoing on player transfers too, as the Lancashire club aimed to back manager Valerien Ismael ahead of the campaign.
Have Venky’s put more money into Blackburn Rovers?
Blackburn Rovers have had their financial troubles in past seasons, and there was a concern that the Venky’s may not wish to invest their money any longer.
Our finance expert, Adam Williams, has explained more about the current situation at Blackburn Rovers.
He said: “I’d be surprised if Rovers’ activity indicated that Venky’s have put more money into the club recently. The last time they did so was in June, when they received just under £5m after a request was cleared in the Delhi High Court, which is a proviso of the owners sending any money outside the country because of a legal issue pertaining to a tax problem they have been dealing with since 2023.
“Incidentally, I was told recently that case is taking so long because there are only four judges in India who deal with this kind of case. But either way, Venky’s have said that in itself is not preventing them from funding the club. Instead, it’s more of a logistical hurdle.
“If they had injected cash in exchange for shares, it would be documented on Companies House. So unless they have done it in the last month, which is the timeframe in which they legally have to disclose a share issue, then we can say with near certainty that hasn’t taken place.
“The other way to put money into the club is via loans from the owners or third parties. This has been the way they have done things recently.
“Per the last set of accounts, Blackburn owed £134m to Venky’s, but those borrowings are interest-free, and it’s overwhelmingly unlikely that they will ever get that cash back.
“The only way they realistically could do it is if they insisted that they be repaid as a condition of a takeover – but because the value of the loans eclipses the value of the club, that’s not going to happen. The debt to the owners increased by over £10m in the last recorded financial year. When we get the accounts for 2024-25, that will have risen beyond £140m. And in 2025-26, it’s likely to go past £150m.”
Blackburn Rovers’ summer spending explained
As mentioned above, Blackburn Rovers have spent some money in the transfer market this summer, and Adam Williams has given us an insight into why that appears to be the case.
He said: “This summer though, they have more or less spent what they have earned in terms of transfer fees – or, at least, the fees they expect to receive. Lewis Travis will generate another £3m and free up probably one of the bigger wages in the structure.
“They also have an overdraft worth over £10m that they can draw from if cash flow is tight. So my instinct is that we probably won’t see another cash injection until some time next year.
“As always, the question with Blackburn is what the Venkys are looking to achieve. Unless they’re promoted, they won’t get anywhere close to recouping the money they have put into the club. In fact, even if they do go up, they probably still won’t.
“15 years ago when the takeover was completed, the mood music was that they were going to use it to help launch their chicken brand in the UK. Given the negative press associated with the brand now, I don’t think that’s realistic.
“If I were them, I would put as much money into the club as possible across a few seasons to try and deliver promotion and then sell the club. If that doesn’t work, cut your losses and sell up thereafter. Otherwise, you continue this cycle of inertia where you’re spending £10-20m every year on a club with no end in sight, which is bad for you as a business but, more importantly, bad for the fabric of Blackburn as a town and the club as a once-great sporting institution.”