Blackburn Rovers in a battle with Celtic to sign 14-goal striker valued at £5m by Ligue 1 club

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Blackburn Rovers will be working on deals right up until the closure of the transfer window as they look to strengthen their squad for the upcoming Championship campaign.

Valerien Ismael made it clear after their first victory this season that the club were looking to bring in several faces while allowing others to leave.

Blackburn Rovers look set to lose Lewis Travis to Derby County, with his replacement already being confirmed in the shape of Moussa Baradji.

The French midfielder confirmed that the Rovers fans had a special part to play in convincing him to move to Ewood Park from Switzerland, with the midfielder hopeful he can help guide Blackburn back to the Premier League.

Rovers then confirmed another signing just days later, as they brought in Ryoya Morishita, with the Japanese player already letting his thoughts be known about his deal to join Blackburn.

The Lancashire club look set to battle it out with Celtic for their next signing, this time targeting a striker to help strengthen that area of Rovers’ squad.

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Blackburn Rovers after Sambou Soumano

It has been reported that Blackburn Rovers are looking to sign Sambou Soumano from Ligue 1 side Lorient, and the Lancashire club are reportedly in talks to bring the striker to Ewood Park.

That is according to Alan Nixon, reporting via his Patreon, with the journalist stating that Lorient are looking for at least £5 million before they would consider letting the striker leave.

Meanwhile Pete O’Rourke has reported on social media that Celtic are looking to make a late bid for the forward, as they require fresh faces in the door at Parkhead to help in their European adventure and in the defence of their Premiership title.

Soumano would be joining either side in form, as he scored for Lorient at the weekend in their Ligue 1 fixture against Rennes.

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Blackburn Rovers need offensive reinforcements.

The Senegalese striker was pivotal to Lorient’s promotion from Ligue 2 last season, as he scored 14 goals across 34 matches, demonstrating that he is clinical.

While Rovers won 3-0 against Hull City at the weekend, there is a need for Blackburn to sign a striker they can rely on to score goals, as they only had one player reach double figures across all competitions last season, and they have lost several of their contributors in front of the net this summer.

Makhtar Gueye and Yūki Ōhashi scored 18 goals between them last season, and while both strikers have their strengths, goalscoring is not one of them, so it looks like Valerien Ismael is addressing this problem with Soumano.