Blackburn, QPR and Stoke City all keen on Newcastle man ahead of transfer deadline | OneFootball

The Championship trio are said to want the young defender.

Newcastle United defender Harrison Ashby is said to be a target for Championship trio Blackburn Rovers, Queens Park Rangers and Stoke City.

The 22-year-old Scottish full-back has been reported by Alan Nixon, via his Patreon account, to be an option that they are all looking at in the closing stages of the summer transfer window.

The R's, Rovers and Potters are all hoping that this season won't replicate the previous one where they were all involved in a relegation battle, to varying degrees. Based off the evidence in the three games so far, that feels unlikely.

Even still, Rovers, QPR and Stoke are looking to strengthen their squads in the remaining days of the window, with Ashby being the latest named target for each of the clubs.

Harrison Ashby being looked at by Blackburn Rovers, QPR and Stoke City

Nixon has said that the full-back is a player that Blackburn, QPR and Stoke are all looking at, but there are conditions that will need to be met if the 22-year-old is to go out on loan.

Newcastle and the player will need "encouragement" from the potential suitors that he will get adequate minutes if he were to join their team, according to The Sun journalist.

Ashby has just come off the back of a loan spell with Swansea City. He was originally sent to south Wales from Tyneside last summer, but he was recalled by the Magpies shortly before the end of the winter window, when they had their first-team injury crisis.

While with the Swans, the Scotsman made 13 league appearances, a dozen of which he started. Ashby was able to provide a goal and an assist from full-back in those games.

He is yet to make a first-team appearance for Newcastle, but he did play in the Premier League, the Europa League and the Europa Conference League for his former side, West Ham United.

QPR have been previously linked with another right-sided defender in Max Johnston. The 20-year-old Sturm Graz defender is another player that Marti Cifuentes is looking at for this position, with a loan move being the likely method, according to Anthony Joseph of Sky Sports.

Harrison Ashby would be a smart move for any of the three clubs

None of the clubs that are looking to acquire the right-back for the remainder of the 2024/25 campaign are particularly deep in his position.

Blackburn have a lot of younger options sat behind Callum Brittain in the pecking order, although Joe Rankin-Costello could also feature there. Stoke themselves have a young talent in Junior Tchamadeu as their primary option, so they maybe would be hesitant to make any promises to Ashby about minutes.

Jimmy Dunne meanwhile - a centre-back by trade - has regularly been used at right-back for QPR by Marti Cifuentes, but Ashby is a more natural attack-minded player for that position so could be needed, especially with Reggie Cannon feeling out of favour.

There would be a likely opportunity for Ashby wherever he went, if any of them can get a deal done for him in time.

As mentioned, in the case of the Potters specifically, the need for some level of assurance of game time could prove to be a stumbling block, most so with City because of Tchamadeu.

Loans are always a risk for the clubs taking on the loanee. There's no long-term commitment to the club from the player, who will be going back to his Premier League side at the end of the campaign in this case. So stating that someone largely unknown and unproven to them is going to get X amount of minutes and appearances isn't an easy thing to do.

That's from the clubs' side of things. From Ashby's side, all three destinations appear to be solid ones.