Blackburn Rovers should revisit 2024 Crystal Palace transfer interest - winger could be Michael Olise 2.0 | OneFootball

Blackburn wanted Franco Umeh in 2024

Blackburn Rovers have had a decent transfer window in terms of incomings so far, but it's no secret that Valerein Ismael's side are still on the hunt for a right-winger.

After seeing their entire right-hand starting combination from last year being wiped out, with Callum Brittain and Tyrhys Dolan both leaving the football club, naturally Rovers fans would've been feeling a little hesitant going into this campaign.

Despite that, signings of the likes of Axel Henriksson, Dion De Neve and Lewis Miller are expected to make an impact, with a lot of focus also being on if they can keep young promising striker Igor Tyjon at the club, due to reported interest from Arsenal.

The departure of Dolan to Espanyol after his contract ran out at the end of last season was perhaps a bitter pill to swallow for Rovers fans, which is why they will be desperate for a player to fill that void on the right-hand side at Ewood Park this season.

Blackburn should go back in for Franco Umeh

Back in last summer's transfer window, renowned EFL journalist Alan Nixon posted on his Patreon platform about Rovers being interested in the possibility of bringing in Crystal Palace's Irish youth international Franco Umeh for the 2024/25 season, with Dolan coming into the final year of his contract.

Having signed from his hometown club Cork City only last summer, Umeh impressed last season in Premier League 2 for the Eagles. However, most of his gametime was limited to a left wing-back role, with his natural position seeming to be a right-sided winger. Bagging eight goals in the Premier League 2 was a decent return in only 14 outings.

Ryan Hedges started Rovers' opening league game of the season at West Brom in that position, with Henriksson fulfilling that role against Bradford City in their Carabao Cup First Round defeat in midweek.

Rovers have previously already been heavily linked with ex-Birmingham City winger Koji Miyoshi for that position, with the Japanese international open to a move back to the second tier of English football after being relegated from the Bundesliga with Bochum last season.

Moving for a player previously on the radar could well solve the headache for Rovers.

There are shades of Michael Olise in Umeh

EFL fans will know all about Michael Olise, who lit up the Championship with Reading for a number of years before heading to Crystal Palace. Many at Selhurst see Umeh as potentially a long-term Olise successor, partly due to his willingness to play on the right-hand side and cut in onto his left foot in order to bend a strike goalwards, very much mirroring that of the now Bayern Munich star and French senior international.

For Umeh's perspective, given that he has just entered his 20's this year, he will surely now be looking to get out on loan in order to put himself maybe even into Oliver Glasner's thinking for next season. Palace are well versed in nurturing exciting attacking talents in the Championship, with Eberechi Eze going on to score the winner in the FA Cup final after being signed from QPR five years ago.

And a loan to Ewood, where you would imagine that he would be a regular starter under Ismael, could be the ideal catalyst to get the Irish winger's senior career well and truly up and running. Blackburn, too, would be solving something of a positional headache with weeks of the window remaining.