Blackburn Rovers hit the jackpot with £750,000 Gillingham FC deal | OneFootball

The deal for Bradley Dack was superb from Blackburn Rovers.

The season of 2016-17 was a dark period in Blackburn Rovers' history as they were relegated to the third tier for the first time since 1980.

Heading towards a tier unknown to many of the fans, it was not going to be a simple task to secure promotion at the first time of asking. Many players were out of contract that summer and to worsen their woes, the club were around £100 million in debt with the Venky ownership coming under large scrutiny.

However, despite the off-field turmoil, that summer marked the arrival of one of the most naturally gifted players ever to don the Blackburn jersey.

His name was Bradley Dack, and over the next couple of years, he became something of a modern-day legend for the Ewood Park faithful, dazzling them with his skill and finishing ability during one of the most turbulent chapters in the club’s history.

Bradley Dack takes Blackburn back to the Championship

Prior to his move to Lancashire, Dack honed his craft at Gillingham's academy, where he amassed an impressive 72 goal contributions in 185 appearances, most of which came in the third tier.

For Blackburn, this was enough to suggest he was ready for a big move and Tony Mowbray's side offered £750,000 plus add-ons for his services, which was duly accepted by the Gills.

Signing a three-year deal, the attacking midfielder struggled like much of the Blackburn side did in the opening few league games, with successive defeats to Southend United and Doncaster Rovers compounding an already sour mood.

Taking several games to find his form, once he netted his first goal against Shrewsbury Town, he was flying. In a three-horse promotion race against Wigan Athletic and Salop, Dack's contributions were crucial as he netted a vital 18 goals as well as laying on nine assists.

This took them all the way to second place, pipping Shrewsbury by an eventual nine points as Paul Hurst's side diminished late in the season.

His most decisive performance of the campaign came at Ewood Park in late April during a crucial match against Peterborough United. Trailing 1-0 at half-time, Rovers needed inspiration, and Dack delivered by heading in the equaliser before Danny Graham put them ahead with a rebound. Not content, Dack sealed the 3-1 victory with a clinical finish, all but securing their promotion back to the second tier.

Dack delivers in the Championship for Blackburn

Heading back to the Championship, EFL fans were interested to see how Dack would fair in the tier above, having played the predominance of his football in League One.

Immediately, the Rovers attacking midfielder made his impact in a 2-2 draw with Ipswich Town as Derrick Williams squared the ball for Dack, who tapped home to give Rovers a 2-1 lead.

Netting a further 14 that season, Blackburn fans had become accustomed to seeing their star man arrive in the right place at the right time to score, much like England legend Frank Lampard.

However, he did have a magic goal in his locker and strikes against Carlisle United in the EFL Cup and West Bromwich Albion in the Championship were particularly delightful.

Unfortunately, in the following years, his career took a downturn as injuries plagued the midfielder. Successive tears of both anterior cruciate ligaments meant he was never able to fully regain the form he had shown between 2017-18 and 2018-19.

By the 2022-23 season, he was a mere shadow of his former self, and at the end of that campaign, he moved on to a new chapter at Sunderland before going full circle and ending up with Gills again.

Despite this adversity in the latter stages of his Blackburn career, the form he showed across his first two years at the club has put him down as a modern-day great.