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Tugay became a cult hero at Ewood Park after he joined the club in 2001

Tugay Kerimoglu is considered a legend at Blackburn Rovers for his exploits at Ewood Park as a player from 2001 to 2009.

The Turkish midfielder was already 30-years-old by the time he made the move to English football after a long spell at boyhood club Galatasaray, and a short one at Rangers, but that did not stop him from instantly becoming a fan favourite for his performances in the Premier League.

He built a reputation at Rovers for being a deep-lying playmaker with an eye for a long-range goal in his eight years at the club under four different managers in the top-flight, and hung up his boots in 2009 amid an emotional Ewood Park farewell after making 294 appearances in blue and white, with 13 goals to his name.

Tugay was an icon in some of Blackburn's best years as a club

The 94-time Turkey international was arguably in his prime in his first few years at Blackburn, as he helped the club win the League Cup in his debut season, and then was named as the club's Player of the Year for the 2003/04 campaign after registering a goal and seven assists in 36 league outings.

Despite his talent being clear from his time at Galatasaray, he had suffered a tough time at Rangers, and so was signed by Graeme Souness in the summer of 2001 for a modest fee of £1.3m from the Glasgow giants, which he certainly more than repaid over the next eight years.

Blackburn were out of the top-flight altogether from 1966 to 1992, and so their next 20 years of mostly Premier League football are regarded as some of the greatest in the club's history, and Tugay was a key part of numerous successful seasons for them in that time.

Rovers had just been promoted from Division One upon his arrival, and he was an immediate starter at the base of Souness' midfield as the club won the League Cup and came 10th in their first season back in the Premier League after two years away, with his first goal for his new club being a brilliant long-range strike against West Ham.

41 appearances followed for the tough-tackling midfielder in the next campaign, as Rovers finished sixth in the top-flight and secured UEFA Cup football for the second season in a row, then he played 38 more games in 2003/04 before missing a lot of 2004/05 due to injury.

Three more consecutive top-half finishes in the Premier League followed, with Tugay still a key component in the middle of the park under Mark Hughes. The club finished 15th in the final season of his playing career, as he bid an emotional farewell to the Ewood Park faithful in the last game of the 2008/09 campaign against West Brom.

Rovers were relegated back to the second-tier just three years later, with the likes of Tugay seriously missed over the next few seasons in terms of adding steel and quality, and just how fondly remembered he is there to this day is testament to his iconic status at the club.

Tugay holds Blackburn close to his heart - supporters have not seen the likes of him since

Rovers have been stuck in the Championship and League One wilderness since relegation from the top-flight in 2012. It is fair to say that they have not had many cult-hero or legendary players in the last 13 years, as a result, and so Tugay is one of the more recent reminders of good times at Ewood Park.

The ex-Turkey international has gone into coaching since his 2009 retirement from playing, with roles at the Manchester City academy, boyhood club Galatasaray and Turkish second-tier side Şanlıurfaspor. He has also been a sporting director at Miracle Degirmenlik SK.

He returned to Blackburn in 2014 as a visitor, and spoke to the Lancashire Telegraph about his love for the club, and how he will always remember the good times he shared with supporters.

He said: “I played here for eight years and I miss it a lot.

“It was like a family to me – the team, the chairman, the fans. We were like one big family.

“(The West Brom game) was an unbelievable reception. The atmosphere was always great, but that last game was just unbelievable.

“You always have to have good relationships with the fans, but it’s what you do on the pitch that matters. If you have good times, then you will bond with them.

Tugay was voted as Rovers' second-greatest and their supporters' second-all-time favourite player of all time at the club in a 2014 poll as part of the EFL’s 125th anniversary celebrations, behind Premier League-winning striker Alan Shearer.

“It’s great to be honoured with this. But it’s not only for me. It’s for the club, the people who work at the club, the fans – we were all part of it," he told the Lancashire Telegraph that year.

“Everything was in the right place and that’s why I’m thankful for my time here. Blackburn Rovers is in my heart and in my mind and it will never leave me.”

It is clear to see just how big a legend Tugay is at Ewood Park, and he is still undoubtedly held up as one of their greatest ever players even to this day, nearly 16 years on from his departure.

Rovers supporters will forever thank Rangers for their misuse of him in the Scottish Premiership back in the early 2000s, as his exit from the Scottish giants helped Graeme Souness sign an icon who played a huge part in some of their greatest years as a club.