Blackburn Rovers: Leeds United and Tottenham pair tipped to succeed Sammie Szmodics if sold | OneFootball

FLW writers have their say on who Blackburn Rovers should look to as a replacement for Sammie Szmodics this summer.

It could have been a much more difficult season for Blackburn Rovers without the outstanding individual achievements of Sammie Szmodics, but the Championship Golden Boot winner now has multiple clubs vying for his signature.

Blackburn had a difficult season, but would ultimately avoid relegation from the second tier with a 19th-place finish in the final standings. The 28-year-old may have enjoyed a decent first season for Rovers after his arrival from Peterborough United, but he has gone up a level this time around, as he hit 33 goals in all competitions for Blackburn as they battled to survive.

Unsurprisingly, he finished as the top scorer in the league as it enters a season-defining period during the run-in, where his and Blackburn's fate will be decided very soon. Such form was always likely to have caught the eye of potential suitors.

It has inevitably led to the attacking midfielder being linked with a number of other clubs ahead of the summer transfer window. It has previously been claimed that Fulham are the latest club to show an interest in the forward, with Luton Town and Brentford previously thought to be monitoring Szmodics, with it being reported by Alan Nixon that the latter are long-term admirers of the player.

Other reports believe that Galatasaray have launched a £12 million bid for Szmodics. Potentially enticed by the prospect of Champions League football, Szmodics may push for an exit from Ewood Park. Nothing has yet to meet Rovers’ £15–20 million asking price, and recent suggestions are that there remains the possibility of a new deal for the 28-year-old, per the Lancashire Telegraph.

Despite talk of a new deal, there are no guarantees that Szmodics will remain at Ewood Park as a highly coveted player playing for a side that just finished in the bottom half of the division, and a player of his quality will require replacing by the club for 2024/25.

Here, we ask our FLW writers their verdict on who could fill his boots for next season, should he depart the club.

Adam Elliott

The first thing to consider when sourcing a replacement for Szmodics is player profiles. Do the club want a like-for-like player? Or would they prefer more of a striker to play alongside a target man?

Szmodics essentially played as part of a front two in a withdrawn forward role. As the secondary striker, he was able to drop off the front man or use his speed to run beyond, ane became a nightmare for opposition defenders to pick up.

Not only has Szmodics shown a clinical edge in front of goal, but he is a constant threat with his ability on the ball and his movement stretching play in behind for Blackburn, who are set up to get the most out of him and find him in dangerous positions in the final third as frequently as possible. His box-crashing ability and interpretation of space around the box is second-to-none in the division.

Finding a direct alternative is likely to be both difficult and expensive, but one option that could develop into a player like Szmodics is Leeds United's Joe Gelhardt.

Had Leeds achieved promotion through the Championship play-offs, Gelhardt’s exit from the club would surely have been accelerated. After he seldom featured last season, the 22-year-old has been cast out of the starting picture by Daniel Farke and has every right to feel hard done by.

Gelhardt's long-term future in West Yorkshire is unclear, with his development stalling over the last couple of seasons. However, there is talent there, and he could be available at a cut-price fee with his stock as low as it is, and with Leeds needing to raise funds for PSR reasons.

He is in need of a move, be it permanent or via a temporary loan to secure first-team football next season, and to help him further realise his potential with regular second tier gametime.

Gelhardt featured 13 times in total last season, including just four starts and one goal. Blackburn could provide that much-needed regular football. He is also versatile but is a player that operates best behind a striker, either as a right-sided inverted forward, or behind the main centre-forward in a secondary-striker role, whilst plenty of his career has been played as a number-nine as well.

The Wigan Athletic academy product also knows the region well, but could fill Szmodics' boots in time, given that he is a player who works best coming from out-to-in to attack the box.

He is a powerful player once he gets going, whilst also possessing tight close control and having an eye for goal. There is still time for him to revive his stalling career and Blackburn could provide that.

Of course, he would not replace all of Szmodics' goals from 2023/24 for Blackburn, but he is six years his junior, and in the long-run could develop into the better player.

He needs a home to get his career back on track and to realise his potential, whilst Blackburn could afford him with money raised from Szmodics' sale as well. Deploying Gelhardt behind a number-nine would see him thrive, even if he would perform the role a little differently to Szmodics.

Ben Wignall

It's hard to know whether or not Blackburn will have much money to spend if Szmodics departs for pastures new this summer, as many expect him to.

Rovers received a big fee for Adam Wharton late on in January but transfers for fees were barred by the Venkys, and little is known about their transfer plans for this summer either, although they are still struggling to get money out of India to fund the club.

Therefore, you have to assume that any transfer fees generated, for now, will go towards running costs of the Lancashire outfit, leaving minimal funds for actual transfers - but Szmodics will need to be replaced one way or another.

Blackburn may have to look to the loan market therefore or for an attacker that won't cost too much, and in Troy Parrott, John Eustace could bring a player he already knows to Ewood Park.

Eustace was previously an assistant coach for the Republic of Ireland national team very briefly, so he will know all about what the Tottenham forward can do, and he now looks ready to have another crack at the Championship.

Stints at Millwall and Preston North End weren't particularly productive in the past for Parrott, who was once rated as a top prospect at Spurs, but he seems to have found his goalscoring boots in the Eredivisie this past season with Excelsior, where he plundered 17 goals in 29 league appearances, as well as notching five assists.

That may have been the season that the 22-year-old needed to really start firing on all cylinders in England, but there will surely be a mountain of interest in his services; especially with just one year left on his Tottenham contract.

Should Blackburn be able to use some of the Szmodics money this summer, presuming he is sold, then Parrott should be at the top of their list - he is versatile and can play as a number nine, as a more withdrawn forward or out wide, and he provides the versatility that Eustace needs, as well as a clear eye for goal.