Whatever happens, the next transfer window will undoubtedly be a busy one for Blackburn Rovers.

With seven first-team players out of contract and two more seeing loan deals with the club expire, it seems Tony Mowbray's side are heading for a significant squad overhaul when the market reopens.

However, Rovers will need to be careful with how they approach that overhaul, as they will need to make sure that they are getting the right players in to strengthen their squad, at a time when they look set to be building for another push for promotion to the Premier League, with the club currently tenth in the Championship table.

Indeed, it could be argued that not all of those Rovers have been linked with in the past would fit that bill perfectly, with a number of factors having to be taking into account when deciding on which targets to pursue with a concrete offer.

Here, we take a look two past Blackburn transfer links that were probably best avoided, in order to prove that that may well be the case.

Ollie Rathbone

Back in January, Blackburn - along with a number of League One clubs - were linked with a move for Rochdale midfielder Ollie Rathbone, although it could be argued the Lancashire club made the right decision in no taking that interest further.

Having only ever played at Rochdale during his senior career, the step up to Championship level with Rovers may have been something of a jump for Rathbone to make, particularly with Mowbray's men looking up the table rather than down.

More than that however, with the likes of Lewis Travis, Bradley Johnson, Stewart Downing, Jacob Davenport, Elliott Bennett and the now-injured Corry Evans all capable of playing in central midfield, this really didn't seem like a position Blackburn needed to add to their options, in comparison to some of the more depleted areas of their side.

Ross Stewart

Admittedly, with Danny Graham approaching the latter stages of his career and Sam Gallagher and Ben Brereton both struggling to find form since their big-money moves to Ewood Park, it could be argued that another attacker is something worth looking into for Blackburn.

In the lead up to the January window, that had led to Rovers - along with Championship rivals Stoke City - being linked with Ross Stewart, who is currently trying to help Ross County battle against relegation from the Scottish Premiership following promotion last season.

However, a return of 13 goals in 44 league appearances in the past two seasons for Stewart is not exactly the most prolific for a striker, and with the 23-year-old failing to score in his last six games, while also missing a chunk of the campaign through injury, it seems as though Blackburn's decision not to follow up on those links could well have been the right one.