Blackburn sealed a transfer deal for Sammie Szmodics this week and whilst the new signing is happy to get going with the new club, he did have something to say about one of his old teams.

Szmodics signed a deal with Rovers from Peterborough, where he impressed regularly in the Championship and League One. Prior to playing for Posh though, he featured for Bristol City and the winger has revealed to the Lancashire Telegraph that his old side completed a transfer deal for him based only on 'stats' and didn't know how he played.

When he played for City, he managed only three league games and one start for the side despite being a new signing. He managed just one season with the club before being allowed to join up with Peterborough and the Robins never really saw the best of the player.

 

 

Since the transfer deal to Posh though, he has thrived. He had 15 goals in 40 starts for the team in League One and then when his club moved to the Championship, he managed a further six goals and one assist in 26 starts. It seems then, that Bristol City didn't give him the gametime he wanted or needed.

Now, speaking to the Lancashire Telegraph about the transfer to the Robins, he said that the club signed him based on stats they had seen of him as a player - and that might be why his stint at Ashton Gate didn't go as well as his time with the Posh.

Speaking about the deal, he said: "It's nice to join a team who knows how I play. When they signed me at Bristol they signed me off stats and that, here they know exactly what I can bring and they know exactly what the manager wants and I'm really looking forward to it.

"Like I said they've watched clips and they know exactly what they're getting. It's not like when I went to Bristol and it was blind like 'he runs X amount of km a game' but I felt like they already know my qualities and what I needed to work on and it helps you settle in better. The manager knows exactly what he's signed instead of having to learn over the next few weeks."

The Verdict

It's another signing that could be an astute bit of business by Blackburn, with Sammie Szmodics having the qualities to be a very good player.

However, with the club looking for a promotion push and with plenty of options already in similar positions to him, there is a question over the club and whether he will be thrown straight into the first-team or not. When you consider Bradley Dack can play where the former Posh man plays and has more experience, they might be liable to play him over Szmodics.

Considering that the signing also has only six goals and an assist in the division with Peterborough and it might mean he's more of rotation player for the team rather than a first-team option. Still though, he'd rather play in the Championship than League One and the club could even be involved in a promotion push.

For Blackburn, the club now have a great option for their forward line this season even if he is more of a rotation than a first-team player for the side.