Brentford have set their sights on Blackburn Rovers midfielder Joe Rothwell, as reported by Football Insider. 

Rothwell, who has just entered the final 12 months of his current contract at Ewood Park, has made over 100 appearances for the Lancashire club since his 2018 move from Oxford United.

With Rothwell's contract expiring in 2022, it is believed that Brentford are hoping to strike a cut-price deal for the influential midfielder.

The 26-year-old was named as Man of the Match during Blackburn's 2-1 victory over Swansea City on Saturday, but he joins several integral first-team players who will see their contracts expire in 2022.

Rothwell made 39 appearances for Rovers last time out, with 29 of them coming from the start, and the midfield man scored three times and assisted a further four during the 2020/21 campaign.

We asked the team here at FLW for their opinion on Joe Rothwell's potential move to Brentford...

Jacob Potter

You can understand their thinking with this one.

Rothwell has shown promise in the Championship whilst with Blackburn Rovers, and you'd probably say he's earned a chance to play his football in the Premier League.

Brentford could also benefit from adding additional depth to their midfield options this summer, and Rothwell could fit in nicely to Thomas Frank's side.

If they can sign him on a cut-price deal as well, this could turn out to be a shrewd move by the Bees ahead of the new Premier League season. Strength in depth is certainly needed, as competition for places is the ideal dilemma to have for a manager, and Rothwell could be the ideal player to challenge the likes of Matheus Jensen and Christian Norgaard for their starting spots.

Brentford still need a replacement for Emiliano Marcondes, and Rothwell could potentially be that for them this term.

It'll be interesting to see whether they can finalise an agreement to sign Rothwell in the coming weeks, as it wouldn't come as a surprise to see other clubs enter the race to land his signature.

Alfie Burns

Rothwell is a really good player and he’s been showing that at Blackburn for some time now.  

Brentford have an eye for a player as well, so that’s only underlined by the fact that Thomas Frank’s side are chasing his signature.

Frank’s squad looks fairly strong heading up into the Premier League. However, it’s a division that’s alien to Brentford and they are better to be over-prepared than under-prepared in terms of their options.

So, someone like Rothwell could be very good.

He’s got good energy in the midfield, timing his runs into the final third well. That will complement what Brentford look to do in supporting their attack with an energetic midfield.

George Dagless

I think it could be the latest in the long line of shrewd transfer deals that Brentford complete - providing they do it of course.

Rothwell is a really likeable player and one that you could happily watch play all day.

He's good on the ball, makes intelligent runs and has plenty of quality to bring to a Brentford side that would probably get the best out of him with his playing style.

He's coming into his prime years and so it's a natural conclusion to think it's now or never for him in terms of playing in the Premier League and, with just a year left, you could see this move happening for sure.

Brentford would get him in on a low fee if they managed to do the deal and with his attributes in mind they'd surely be very happy about that indeed.