Tony Mowbray drops Blackburn Rovers transfer dilemma amid Rothwell, Nyambe and Lenihan contract talks | OneFootball

Blackburn Rovers manager Tony Mowbray has refused to rule out potentially selling some of the club’s best players in the January transfer window if they do not agree new contracts by the end of 2021.

A whole host of regular first-teamers are out of contract in June 2022, including the prolific Ben Brereton but the club hold a 12-month option which will no doubt be triggered if a new extended deal cannot be agreed.

The same can’t be said for the likes of Ryan Nyambe, Joe Rothwell and captain Darragh Lenihan though, who are all yet to commit to further deals at Ewood Park.

Rothwell has attracted interest from Scottish Premiership champions Rangers this month and the Gers can approach the 26-year-old in January on a pre-contract arrangement should they wish to if his contract stance remains the same.

Mowbray has described the contract talks going on currently at the club as ‘difficult’ and if there isn’t any commitment from the soon-to-be out of contract individuals in the near future then he has revealed the club may have to cash in.

“The bigger question is are we keeping these players or are we going to have to sell these players? Are the contracts going to get agreed or are they not going to get agreed?” Mowbray told the Lancashire Telegraph.

“If they aren’t then we need to sell them and reinvest some of the money into the team and keep moving the team forward.

Quiz: Did these 25 Blackburn Rovers transfers situations actually happen?

“I like a lot of these players and would prefer they all sign and we keep a core together that can move forward and we can keep adding to it.

“Do you sell them in January to try and make a bit of money to try and reinvest in someone else, or are you going to do it on free transfers because you’ve lost some of your best players? Those are the dilemmas for as a club at the moment.”

The Verdict

It’s a tough spot for Mowbray to be in as he’s already lost Adam Armstrong this season and may have to lose some more of his top players.

As the Lancashire Telegraph alluded to, in the latest accounts Blackburn’s player wages at the end of the 2019-20 season were a staggering 190% of the club’s turnover, so you can see why they had to sell Armstrong if he wasn’t going to pen a new deal.

The likes of Nyambe, Rothwell and Lenihan won’t fetch as much as their former prolific scorer though but at the same time they are vital parts of the team and they’d be hard to replace.

Mowbray faces a real dilemma in January if none of them have signed new contracts but the club have a few months to sort the situation out before the big decisions may have to be made.