Blackburn Rovers in advanced transfer talks for Leeds United & Sunderland target | OneFootball

Modibo Sagnan could be heading to Ewood Park instead of the Black Cats or the Whites

Blackburn Rovers are closing in on the signing of Montpellier centre-back Modibo Sagnan, with the Lancashire outfit in advanced talks to secure his services.

Rovers agonisingly missed out on the Championship play-off spots last season, finishing two points short of sixth-placed Bristol City as a draw away at Sheffield United on the final day of the campaign wasn't good enough to move them into contention.

Valerien Ismael is set to replenish his squad though ahead of the new season that gets underway in August, and that is despite the goings-on behind the scenes at the club, with CEO Steve Waggott abruptly departing last week after seven-and-a-half years in his post.

Blackburn Rovers pressing ahead with plans to sign Montpellier defender Modibo Sagnan

Rovers must move on though with their transfer business, and Ismael is looking to hone in on a new centre-back option at Ewood Park in the form of Sagnan.

Rovers are making their move prior to the transfer window opening to try and land the Mali international, with the Lancashire Telegraph reporting that talks are taking place between the two clubs to make a deal happen.

The 26-year-old, who played 27 times in Ligue 1 for Montpellier this past season as they finished bottom of 18 teams, meaning relegation to Ligue 2, has also been linked to both Leeds United and Sunderland within the last week, but it now looks like he may head to the Championship instead.

Sagnan signed for Montpellier in February 2024 for a fee of around €3 million from Dutch outfit Utrecht, and he was a direct replacement for Burnley-bound Maxime Esteve at the time - the Malian has since gone on to appear 41 times for the French side and has scored five times from his defensive position.

Rovers have Saint-Etienne's Mickael Nade on their radar as an alternative, left-footed option if a deal for Sagnan cannot be closed, but negotiations are ongoing to try and make the move a reality.

Blackburn Rovers: Modibo Sagnan talks could spell the end of Danny Batth at Ewood Park

When it comes to defensive options, Blackburn aren't exactly short on them, with Dom Hyam, Hayden Carter and Scott Wharton all under contract, although the latter didn't feature last season due to a knee injury.

However, FLW exclusively revealed last week that Derby County's ex-Blackburn boss John Eustace was keen to re-unite with the experienced Danny Batth, whose Rovers contract is up this summer.

Despite being 34 years of age, Batth was excellent in 2024-25 and played 37 times in the Championship, so it is no surprise to see that Eustace would be keen to strike that relationship up once more.

He won't be a massive miss though if Blackburn get Sagnan over the line though, given his profile and top-flight experience in France - you'd expect that they would be paying a similar fee to what the French outfit signed him for too, so it's a decent-sized investment for Rovers should they complete the deal.