Blackburn Rovers transfer stance on 20-year-old revealed | OneFootball

Despite enduring a tough 2023/24 Championship campaign, Blackburn Rovers secured their second tier status with a 2-0 victory over newly crowned champions Leicester City.

Ewood Park has played witness to a difficult season which saw former boss Jon Dahl Tomasson leave the club via mutual consent back in February.

But Rovers were able to stave off the threat of relegation thanks to the goalscoring exploits of Ireland international Sammie Szmodics, who scored on 27 occasions, earning himself the Championship golden boot.

Fittingly, it was Szmodics who managed to guide his club to safety by bagging a brace at the King Power Stadium on Saturday afternoon, including an insurance goal in the 94th minute.

Other than the impressive performances of the Irishman, there have been very few sparks for the Lancashire outfit this campaign, but the signing of former Crewe starlet Connor O'Riordan back in January could bode well for the future at Rovers.

Since arriving at the club, the 20-year-old has only made two appearances, which were both from the substitute's bench back in February during a win over Stoke, and a loss to now-relegated Birmingham.

Amid O'Riordan's lack of first team minutes at Rovers, Alan Nixon reported via Patreon that the Ewood Park side were weighing up the option of deploying the youngster put on loan this summer, but the Lancashire Telegraph revealed on Tuesday that Blackburn boss John Eustace is keen on keeping the defender.

Eustace transfer stance on O'Riordan revealed

The Lancashire Telegraph have reported that Blackburn boss Eustace has no intention of allowing the ace to leave the club this summer, and back in March he told the outlet: "The club wouldn't have signed him if they didn't think he could have a big future.

"The club have done their homework on the players and I believe Connor will have a big future at this club."

Prior to joining Rovers, the Crewe academy product made 23 League Two appearances during the first half of the 2023/24 season, scoring on three occasions.

The 2024/25 season could provide O'Riordan with more first team minutes

Given that O'Riordan is a young player who had no previous Championship experience before joining Rovers, it would have been a major risk for Eustace to throw him in the deep end, and put the 20-year-old at the forefront of a relegation battle.

But now that the Lancashire side have avoided the fate of an unwanted League One return, they can view the 2024/25 season with more optimism, and the start of a new campaign could provide O'Riordan with starting XI opportunities.

Given the fact that Rovers signed the experienced Kyle McFadzean from Coventry City in January, perhaps it was always evident that O'Riordan was not going to be a first team player in such testing circumstances.

Furthermore, Eustace recently admitted that he'd like to keep McFadzean, who signed a deal until the end of the season, so we could see the 37-year-old playing alongside O'Riordan next campaign.

Given the fact that the 37-year-old has over 600 appearances to his name in senior football, he could offer O'Riordan tutelage and guidance next campaign, despite keeping him out of the team this time around.