Blackburn Rovers director of football Gregg Broughton has opened up on the club's transfer pursuit of Anel Ahmedhodzic. 

Ahmedhodzic signed for the Blades in the summer for a fee in the region of £3m and has been one of the league's best defenders this season.

However, it has now been revealed that Blackburn were chasing the Bosnian international along with Sheffield United, with Broughton admitting it "eats away" at him that Sheffield United pipped them to the signature of Ahmedhodzic.

The 23-year-old had played under Rovers' boss Jon Dahl Tomasson at Malmo, with Tomasson keen to bring the defender to Ewood Park after he was appointed as manager in the summer. However, Paul Heckingbottom won that battle and he has turned out to be one of the signings of the season.

Speaking to Lancashire Live, Broughton explained: “What I won’t ever apologise for is not risking the financial future of the club.

“It baulks with me, eats away at me, that in the summer window we missed out for a central defender from Jon’s old club.

"It is on public record that we went in for him and we lost out on him because the other club could pay more than we did."

Rovers had a relatively quiet January after late business in the summer. They almost pulled off one of the signings of the January transfer window, but failed to complete the deal for Lewis O'Brien in time.

Having missed out on two top targets, it will almost certainly motivate Rovers to ensure it doesn't happen again this coming summer.

 

 

The Verdict

It was a surprise to see Broughton reveal how close Rovers were to signing Ahmedhodzic.

However, it's perhaps not entirely true that fee would have dictated the move entirely. Given Sheffield United's squad and readiness to push for the Premier League, that would have almost certainly had a major impact on the transfer.

That being said, offering more money would have pushed the Blades further up the queue which is perhaps the main frustration for Broughton.