Blackburn Rovers eyeing transfer for Crystal Palace player | OneFootball

Crystal Palace winger Franco Umeh-Chibueze is wanted by Blackburn Rovers as John Eustace looks to bolster his ranks ahead of a big summer at Ewood Park.

That is according to journalist Alan Nixon on Patreon, who reports that Rovers are keen on loaning the exciting 19-year-old in for the 2024/25 campaign.

Umeh-Chibueze has previously appeared on the first-team bench for Palace under both Roy Hodgson and Oliver Glasner, and Nixon suggests that the Eagles will let him out for the season 'if Rovers are going to use him.'

Umeh-Chibueze is highly rated at Palace

Umeh-Chibueze joined the Eagles academy in February 2023 from Irish side Cork City following a trigger of a €75,000 release clause in his contract, after making his senior debut for the club as a 17-year-old in June 2022 against Longford Town.

He went on to feature three more times for the Rebel Army, scoring once in the Munster Senior Cup before making the move to South London last year.

Umeh-Chibueze has been capped at U17, U18 and U19 level for the Republic of Ireland - scoring twice in nine appearances across all youth levels.

The 19-year-old has been described as a 'rapid, hard-working player' who is 'capable of playing anywhere along the front three' - all traits that would certainly peak the interest of any EFL side searching for a cheap loan gem.

He netted five goals and laid on three assists in his first eight outings for the Palace U18 side upon arrival, prompting his promotion into the U21 team for the 2023/24 season.

Umeh hit the ground running for the U21's, notching four goals and an assist in his first 10 games, then grabbing eight goals and five assists in 22 appearances by the end of January to earn himself a nomination for the Premier League 2 Player of the Month award.

His performances for Darren Powell's side saw him train with the senior team on multiple occasions, and he earned a place on bench five times from February to the end of the season in the Premier League, but is still yet to make his professional Palace debut.

Blackburn will need attacking reinforcements

A lot of Rovers' success in staving off the Championship drop under Eustace can be attributed to one man - Sammie Szmodics.

28-year-old Szmodics netted 27 goals in 44 league games last campaign, winning the Championship golden boot and being involved in 52% of Rovers' league goals in the process, according to transfermarkt.

After such a brilliant season, Rovers will be almost consigned to losing their star man this summer with TEAMtalk recently reporting that Everton, Brentford and Leicester City are 'keeping tabs' on the Irish international, and Turkish giants Galatasaray are also weighing up a move.

Szmodics' possible departure leaves a huge attacking gap for John Eustace to fill, and while Umeh-Chibueze would not be expected to replicate those scoring exploits, he would definitely be a welcome addition for a team that could need to replace Szmodics' pace and clinical finishing ability.

Rovers also have Arnor Sigurdsson as their only in-contract left-winger ahead of 2024/25, so Umeh-Chibueze would no doubt be signed to provide competition for the Icelander who failed to really impress in an injury-hit debut season at Ewood Park, as well as push Harry Pickering for the left-wing-back spot that the 19-year-old took up for Palace U21's on occasion in 2023/24.