Blackburn Rovers must regret £7.5m transfer mistake along with these 4 others | OneFootball

FLW look back in time at five of Blackburn Rovers' worst signings of all time.

Barry Ferguson is one of many signings at Blackburn Rovers to have underwhelmed during the modern era, with particular issues coming over the last 15 years with the Venky's as well.

For years now, poor recruitment has been a criticism of their ownership. Amid a raft of fan protests against them and their funding and management of the club, Blackburn were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2011/12 season, and they are yet to return to the top-flight of English football.

Indeed, Rovers would even drop into League One for a year during the 2017/18 campaign, although they did at least secure a swift return to the Championship that season. More recently, restrictions placed on the Venky's over what they can invest in the club by the government in their native India have also put scrutiny on their ownership of the Lancashire side.

However, even before then, the likes of Ferguson came and went without having much impact at Ewood Park. That's despite the Scot having an impressive career in the game elsewhere. He had arrived from Scottish giants Rangers in August 2003 for a fee of £7.5 million.

Then manager Graeme Souness was a huge fan of Ferguson, stating that he believed he would be "regarded as one of the best central midfield players around", and he was named captain in July 2004.

However, Ferguson submitted a transfer request in January 2005, controversially claiming that a Lancashire derby with Bolton Wanderers did not compare to an Old Firm match, and he returned to Ibrox for £4.5 million.

Ferguson scored just four goals in 38 appearances during his time at Ewood Park. But here we look at four other similarly bad signings that the club has made in recent memory.

Leon Best

Striker Leon Best joined Rovers from Newcastle United in July 2012 for a fee of more than £3 million. However, a serious knee injury prevented Best from making his debut until March 2013, and he then struggled to make an impact after returning to fitness.

Best scored just two goals in 16 appearances for the club, and he spent time out on loan with Sheffield Wednesday, Derby County, and Brighton & Hove Albion before being released in July 2015. The 38-year-old has since retured following his departure from Charlton Athletic in January 2018.

Corrado Grabbi

After spending all of his previous career in Italy, Grabbi joined Blackburn from Ternana in July 2001 for a fee of £6.75 million. However, the striker did not live up to his expensive price tag whatsoever.

He scored just five goals in 41 appearances for the club, and he was loaned out to Messina in 2002. Grabbi moved back to Italy with Ancona in 2004 and went on to have spells with Genoa, Arezzo and Bellinzona before retiring in 2008.

Herold Goulon

A Frenchman who had a promising spell at Le Mans before arriving in Lancashire in 2010, Despite that, he would never fulfill any of that potential or promise with Blackburn.

Goulon was loaned out to Doncaster Rovers in November 2011, but he could not force his way into the team after returning to Lancashire.

He was released in 2012 after four very disappointing league appearances, which saw him leave to Poland. He has also spent time playing in Malaysia since, and is one of the ost forgettable and disappointing pieces of business in recent memory.

Vincenzo Grella

Midfielder Vincenzo Grella arrived at Ewood Park from Italian side Torino in August 2008 for an initial fee in the region of £3.5 million, but his time at the club was severely disrupted by injury.

Grella made just 45 appearances during a four-year spell in Lancashire.

He was released by Rovers at the end of the 2011/12 season. Grella returned to his native Australia with Melbourne Heart in October 2012, but he announced his retirement from football after picking up a calf injury on his debut for the club.