"Affordable" - Blackburn Rovers situation discussed amid links to Birmingham City raid | OneFootball

Siriki Dembele has been linked with a move to Ewood Park after just one year at St. Andrew's.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

After just one season at St. Andrew's Stadium, Siriki Dembélé has already been linked with a move away from Birmingham City, with Championship club Blackburn Rovers interested in the services of the 27-year-old.

Blackburn's John Eustace is keen to link back up with Dembélé, just under a year after being sacked as Birmingham manager, according to Alan Nixon.

However, with Rovers' history of minimal spending, it seems unlikely that a move will be made for the winger unless Sammie Szmodics is sold before the transfer deadline.

Szmodics scored 27 goals in the Championship last season, including a brace against Leicester City on the final day to help his team survive in what was a torrid season for the Lancashire-based club.

Blackburn will kick off the new campaign on Friday 9 August against Derby County, and have only added young goalkeeper Jack Barrett to their ranks since the window opened, and with more outgoings likely in the coming weeks, Eustace's side do look to be in trouble.

Blackburn's transfer policy relies on reinvestment

Despite selling Adam Wharton for a club record £22 million in February to Crystal Palace, Rovers have failed to spend the money on new players, and are at risk of losing more stars, including Sam Gallagher, who looks likely to join Stoke City.

FLW's Blackburn Fan Pundit, Toby, believes that Dembélé could be the right fit to add more firepower to his team's attack, with Birmingham potentially happy to let him go: "It's an interesting one, I think if Blackburn are going to reinvest the Szmodics money, then I can see Dembélé being affordable.

"It looks as though Birmingham do have replacements for him already in the building and certainly, given he never fully held down a place last season, I think they would also be open to letting him go if they get the sort of bid that Blackburn could potentially make with that money.

"If they are going to spend it, and obviously given how things have gone so far, it feels very unclear whether or not they will be investing much of that Szmodics money back into the squad should he go."

Dembélé's past exploits at Ewood Park show what he is capable of

The former Peterborough United man played 33 Championship games for Blues last season, scoring six goals and picking up an assist against Cardiff City, however, with their relegation to League One, he is a good target for clubs in the Championship.

On his day, Dembélé can be one of the most exciting players in the division, something that he proved in a 4-2 defeat to Blackburn in November 2023. Performances like that could excite the Ewood Park faithful, including Toby: "While he's not always been the most consistent, there is certainly quality in there.

"He showed that at Ewood Park last season with a couple of excellent goals, so, it's certainly not one that I would be completely against if it was to go down that route of us losing Szmodics and being able to reinvest that money somewhere.

"If he was to come, there's the potential for him to be a good signing and I do think that the wide area is one that Blackburn do need to strengthen. The fact that Eustace knows him from his time at Birmingham could help.

"I do think that it is potentially one that could be looked into as a decent signing."