QPR and Norwich City should look to hijack Blackburn deal after complication: View | OneFootball

Highlights

Blackburn Rovers are currently struggling to get this deal over the line, but a move for the player by Norwich City or QPR could help them move up the league quickly.

The middle of the Championship is as congested as it has ever been. For the teams that sit between the final playoff place, which is currently taken by Sunderland, and 17th, which is Rovers, league positions don't really matter because there is only an eight point gap between the two.

You can easily jump from being in the bottom eight to ten teams to close to the top six within a couple of weeks; Coventry City have already done it.

Because it's such a tight gap in the middle of the pack, one or two key moves could be so crucial for teams like Blackburn. They have the firepower up top, but their defence is leaky at best. If they are able to sure things up at the back, they might fancy their chances at a playoff push.

With this in mind, Rovers' hierarchy have decided that 20-year-old Crewe Alexandra centre-back Connor O'Riordan is who they're going to go for to try to add strength to their defensive depth.

As per The Sun's Alan Nixon, he has a £500,000 release clause in his contract, which Blackburn would be happy to meet, but only on certain terms. This is where their current issue lies.

What's going on with Connor O'Riordan to Blackburn Rovers?

The hold-up with this move is over the details.

Jon Dahl Tomasson's side don't want to pay the whole fee in one; they'd rather: "thrash out a payment plan," as per Nixon. He added that Crewe, on the other hand, want all £500,000 at once.

If needs be, the journalist said that the Lancashire-based club have other plans. He said that Blackburn are also interested in taking Leeds United's Charlie Cresswell on loan, but that there would be issues there too. Rovers would have to take on close to all of his wages if they wanted to make a deal with the Whites. Capology estimates his weekly earnings from Leeds to be £7,500.

So Rovers are sort of between a rock and a hard place. Crewe have no need to panic about selling the Irish defender as his contract with them runs until the end of next season. To add to that, Leeds aren't going to help out a league competitor unless they're going to get something decent out of it too, like almost an entire wage off of their books for the rest of the season.

This is where clubs like Norwich and QPR can capitalise.

Norwich and QPR should look to hijack Connor O'Riordan's move to Blackburn

QPR and Norwich's defensive records aren't quite as bad as Dahl Tomasson's team's is, but they could still do with some work.

Not only would adding O'Riordan be potentially good for them defensively - adding a young defender who has room to grow under a good manager - but he would also fit into their styles of play.

The Irish defender ranks in the top 20% in his position for pass accuracy and ball accuracy, according to Fotmob.

It'd be an overall good fit for all three of the sides, but, with Rovers negotiation struggles, the Canaries or the Rs could swoop in and catch themselves a promising, young centre-half.