£6m Blackburn Rovers transfer deal produced mixed results – Future Fiorentina, AC Milan exploits sparked Ewood Park surprise | OneFootball

Nikola Kalinic went on to play for several European giants after an extremely underwhelming stint at Blackburn Rovers.

Back in the summer of 2009, Blackburn Rovers splashed the cash somewhat to bring in Croatia international striker Nikola Kalinic from Hajduk Split, but he left a confusing legacy behind at Ewood Park.

Kalinic became a prolific goalscorer for Hajduk during the early stages of his career, hitting 17 in 25 league games in the 2007/08 campaign and then 15 in 28 before his move to Lancashire.

For a fee believed to be in the region of £6 million, Kalinic was expected to help propel Rovers forward, back towards the European spots in the first full season under the management of Sam Allardyce.

Blackburn did finish tenth in his first season in England, whilst reaching the semi-finals of the League Cup, but he struggled for game time throughout the campaign, making just 14 starts across the campaign.

In the following season, he performed a little better in terms of his goals per game ratio but even that, five strikes in 18 appearances, was underwhelming and he was eventually sold to Ukrainian side Dnipro Dnepropetrovsk in the summer of 2011.

From there, though, he would relaunch and perhaps redefine his career, without necessarily still hitting any majorly consistent runs of form across the next decade or so.

Nikola Kalinic became journeymen of European giants

After a four-year stint at Dnipro, where he scored 49 goals in 125 appearances across all competitions, helping them reach the 2015 UEFA Europa League final, Kalinic then earned himself a move to Serie A side Fiorentina.

Whilst in Italy, the one-time Blackburn flop hit 12 goals in his first season in Serie A before then scoring an impressive 15 goals in 32 appearances the following campaign, earning a move to seven-time European champions AC Milan.

In a now-infamous summer, Kalinic was a part of a mega influx of players to the Rossoneri, joining alongside the likes of Mateo Musacchio, Ricardo Rodriguez, Andre Silva, Hakan Calhanoglu, Andrea Conti, Leonardo Bonucci, Lucas Biglia, Franck Kessie, Fabio Borini and Jorgen Strand Larsen.

Much like the entire team that season, with Milan finishing sixth, he underwhelmed but still found himself moving to Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2018.

He scored just four goals in 24 appearances for Los Rojiblancos before moving back to Italy to join capital city giants Roma on loan, where he once again failed to hit the heights of his time in Florence.

An underwhelming stint at Hellas Verona then followed before returning to Hajduk in the 2021/22 winter transfer window prior to his retirement in 2024.

He again pretty much landed on his feet, though, becoming Sporting Director of the club that summer, but, again, it was an underwhelming stint that saw him sacked after just one transfer window.

Blackburn Rovers' surprise at the confusing Nikola Kalinic

Perhaps like any high level professional footballer, on his day Kalinic could be a genuinely excellent forward and that promise is what earned him moves to some of the biggest clubs on the continent, as well as prompting Blackburn to spend reasonably heavily on him.

He ended up winning just one UEFA Super Cup and one Croatian Cup during his intriguing career, as well as reaching the 2018 FIFA World Cup final with Croatia, with whom he earned 42 caps and scored 15 goals. However, he refused to accept the silver medal from that competition after he was sent home mid-way through the tournament for refusing to come on in a group game against Nigeria, citing a back injury.

Kalinic’s spells at both Dnipro and Fiorentina immediately after departing Blackburn will perhaps leave Rovers supporters with some regret, especially as the season following his departure saw their relegation from the Premier League, something that they have never truly recovered from.