Blackburn Rovers have managed to enjoy a good start to the season, although they will be frustrated to have suffered back-to-back defeats before the international break.
Those two defeats against Huddersfield Town and Blackpool have seen Rovers drop out of the play-off places. That leaves Tony Mowbray with work to do over the international break to ensure that his side get back to winning ways when they return to action.
However, Blackburn probably would have taken a points tally of 16 from their opening 11 fixtures and 8th place in the table by this stage when the campaign got underway.
Considering that Blackburn were forced to sell Adam Armstrong in the summer transfer window and they also lost Harvey Elliott from their squad, it has not been a bad start for Mowbray’s side who are finding goals from elsewhere with Ben Brereton Diaz, in particular, stepping up.
The January transfer window is going to be a crucial period in Blackburn’s season because they could once again see interest emerge in some of their key players.
While they could also do with adding in key areas of the squad to make them strong enough to sustain a top-six push.
With that in mind, we take a look at some transfer scenarios we could see materialise at Ewood Park in the winter window…
Joe Rothwell to seal a move away from Ewood Park
One player that Blackburn are going to face a very important decision over in January is midfield Joe Rothwell.
It has been reported recently by The Sun that Rovers thought about trying to cash in on him in the summer so that they could perhaps not be forced to sell Armstrong to Southampton.
However, despite Brentford being interested in Rothwell at one stage, the Bees decided to move for another target instead and that closed the door on an exit for the midfielder.
According to The Sun, Blackburn could be ready to sanction an exit for Rothwell this January as well because they want to avoid losing him for nothing at the end of the season when his deal is set to expire.
It is believed that Rangers at the moment are leading the race for Rothwell and that Steven Gerrard’s side are keen to try and secure a pre-contract agreement with the midfielder. That would see Blackburn lose out on a transfer fee for him.
Rovers will be hoping that they can sell Rothwell in January rather than lose him to Rangers on a pre-contract agreement.
While there is even the slim chance that he could still sign a new deal, although at the moment that does not look like happening any time soon.
Blackburn to make major push to try and bring in an Armstrong replacement
A major oversight for Blackburn in the summer that could still come back to haunt them at the end of the season was their failure to bring in a replacement for Armstrong upfront before the end of the window.
Rovers were linked with a potential move for Michael Obafemi before he completed his move away from Southampton to Swansea City.
While there have even been reports that Blackburn were in the market to potentially sign former Sunderland and Fulham forward Josh Maja as well.
The form of Brereton Diaz in the first few months of the campaign has perhaps made Rovers’ inability to sign a new forward in the summer less of an issue.
However, the Chile international’s form is now likely to make him a wanted man by other sides, and so Blackburn might already have to start thinking about potentially replacing him down the line as well.
The winter window is surely going to have to see Blackburn stretch their finances a little to try and bring in the right forward to help add more goals to the squad. That could well be the difference between them making the top-six or just missing out.
The money they received from Armstrong should still be there and a permanent transfer could be sanctioned for the right forward.
However, it could even be that Rovers decide to go down the loan route to bring in a new striker.