Blackburn Rovers' 5 biggest transfer flop signings from recent times ft Danny Murphy | OneFootball

A look at some of the worst signings to have moved to Ewood Park this century

The 2024 summer transfer window looks to have been a rather successful one for Blackburn Rovers.

In total, nine new additions to the first-team squad at Ewood Park were made, and there have already been encouraging signs among those who have made their debuts for the club so far.

Those around the club will hope that continues throughout the campaign, in order to ensure they avoid a repeat of last season's battle to avoid relegation from the Championship.

However, history tells us there is no guarantee that will happen for the Lancashire outfit, who have had their fair share of transfer flops in recent years.

So with that in mind, we've taken a look at five of the biggest transfer flops Blackburn Rovers have had since the start of this century, right here.

Corrado Grabbi

Joining in July 2001, Corrado Grabbi was brought to Ewood Park ahead of the club's return to the Premier League.

The striker joined following a prolific campaign in which he scored 21 goals in 37 appearances in all competitions for Italian second-tier side Ternana.

It was reported that Blackburn paid a fee of around £6.75million to secure the services of the striker, although that was not an investment that paid off.

Grabbi spent the next three years in Lancashire, but struggled to settle or find the back of the net, with even a loan spell back in Italy with Messina in 2002 unable to reverse his fortunes.

He then returned to Italy permanently in 2004, having scored just two goals in 30 Premier League appearances for Rovers during his three years with the club.

Blackburn invested significantly in the signing of Leon Best as well, paying Newcastle a reported £3million for his services in the summer of 2012, following their relegation to the Championship.

However, the striker would suffer a significant injury shortly after his arrival at Ewood Park, which was something of a theme during his time with the club.

Combined with several loan spells elsewhere, Best's game time for the Lancashire outfit was limited, and even when he did get on the pitch in a Rovers shirt, he struggled to make an impact.

In total, the striker scored just twice in 16 appearances for the club in total, while he also did his status at Blackburn no favours by arguing with fans on social media.

Best eventually left the club in the summer of 2015, being released by mutual consent a year before his deal at Ewood Park had been due to expire.

Chris Brown

Another striker who was unable to leave his mark at Ewood Park during his time with Rovers, was Chris Brown.

The forward joined Blackburn on a free transfer from Doncaster Rovers in the summer of 2014, but struggled during his time in Lancashire.

Brown spent two years with the club, and made 41 appearances in all competitions during that time, but never scored a goal for the club.

Indeed, the striker rarely looked like changing that statistic, with those struggles eventually making him something of a source of ironic humour for supporters.

Brown would depart Blackburn on a free transfer when his contract expired at the end of the 2015/16 season, and did not play again before being forced to retire due to injury.

Danny Murphy

Even at 35-years-old, former Liverpool, Fulham, Tottenham and England midfielder Danny Murphy looked like he could have been a useful signing when he moved to Ewood Park in 2012.

However, this was a signing that fell rather flat, with the veteran looking very much as though he was ready to bring an end to his career when on the pitch for Rovers.

Indeed, despite signing a two-year contract with the club, Murphy was released by Blackburn after just a single year with the club in the summer of 2013.

Since then, his perceived lack of application and desire in a Rovers shirt, has ensured he is far from a popular figure around Ewood Park.

Even now, supporters of the Lancashire outfit will be quick to criticise Murphy for perceived hypocrisy, if he ever takes aim at players for a poor work rate when working as a pundit.

Myles Anderson

Eyebrows were raised when Blackburn signed Myles Anderson from Aberdeen in the summer of 2011, despite the centre-back making just a single senior appearance for the club.

Indeed, the fact that his father, agent Jerome Anderson, was an advisor to the club's owners Venkys only added to the scrutiny around the deal.

Despite that, Rovers' manager at the time insisted the younger Anderson was there on merit, and suggested he could make a late breakthrough like Chris Smalling.

However, such a prediction never came true with the defender, who departed the club by mutual consent in January 2013, having never made a competitive appearance.

Indeed, Anderson's subsequent career has been spent much further down the leagues in England and Italy, a damning reflection of the situation Blackburn found themselves in around the time they did this deal.