Blackburn Rovers would love to repeat Newcastle United loan that was first step to major payday | OneFootball

Adam Armstrong joined Rovers on a short-term loan in January 2018, but his permanent arrival would pave the way for a big profit years later.

Back in January 2018, Blackburn Rovers were looking to add a forward in the winter window who could help fire Tony Mowbray's side out of League One and into the Championship.

Rovers landed on Newcastle United's versatile attacker Adam Armstrong, who signed on a short-term loan deal until the end of the season.

What the Englishman would go on to achieve during those few months as a Blackburn player would ensure that the club would make keeping him at Ewood Park for the long-term priority number one.

FLW takes a look back at Armstrong's Blackburn career, how his exploits earned him a place in Rovers folklore, and explores how the club could so desperately do with a player like him again.

Blackburn Rovers secured permanent Adam Armstrong deal after impressive loan spell

If there was a manager who knew how to get the best out of Armstrong come January 2018, it was Mowbray. The Rovers boss had signed him on an initial six-month loan in July 2015 whilst he was in charge of League One side Coventry City.

That was later extended to a season-long deal in January 2016, and come the end of the 2015/16 campaign, the England youth international had bagged 20 goals and five assists in 40 League One appearances for Mowbray's Coventry side.

This form had seen him handed a brief opportunity to impress in Newcastle's senior side, but after failing to make an impact, he was shipped out on loan twice between August 2016-January 2018, first with Barnsley and later with Bolton respectively.

So, come the winter window of 2018, and with Mowbray now in the dug out at Ewood Park, he picked up the phone to the Magpies once again, and brought his former striker to East Lancashire.

Armstrong quickly began to find his shooting boots once again under 'Mogga', as his nine goals and two assists in 21 League One outings would see him play a vital role in helping Rovers win promotion to the Championship.

Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle deal for Adam Armstrong led to major profit

With Rovers now back in the second tier, and with many of the thanks going to Armstrong for his crucial goals, the Rovers support demanded that Ewood Park became his permanent home.

The two clubs were able to agree on a fee of around £1.75m, which had the potential to rise to £3m with add-ons. It felt like a bargain to everyone connected with the club at the time, but they wouldn't realise just how shrewd of a deal they'd completed for another couple of years.

However, Armstrong's first full season in a Blackburn shirt may have had one or two questioning whether they really had spent the right amount on the striker, as he posted a modest return of five goals and three assists in 44 Championship appearances during the 2018/19 campaign.

Any doubts were swiftly swept aside the following season though, as the Englishman fired in 16 goals and provided six assists in 46 second tier outings, but it would be the 2020/21 season in which he would truly establish himself as one of the division's best players, and a Rovers icon.

Armstrong would tear up the Championship in 2020/21, with Brentford's Ivan Toney pipping him to the golden boot award with 31 goals, as the Rovers man's 28 league strikes would have to see him settle for second place.

Word of his exploits travelled, and with Blackburn finishing in 15th that season and resigned to another season in the Championship, Premier League side Southampton came knocking.

For Armstrong, he'd proven himself to be a top marksman at second tier level, and was now ready to once again take on the top-flight. Saints splashed out £15m to pluck him from Ewood Park and bring him to St. Mary's in August 2021, giving him a chance of regular Premier League football.

In the years following Armstrong's 2021 exit, Blackburn have maintained the trend of always having a top goalscorer in their ranks.

Ben Brereton Diaz bagged 22 league goals in the 2021/22 season, before firing in another 14 in the 2022/23 campaign. Sammie Szmodics then picked up the scoring baton in emphatic style last term, with his 27 Championship strikes earning him the golden boot (incidentally, beating Armstrong's 21 for Southampton to the award).

However, Rovers' 2024/25 squad doesn't appear to have an obvious candidate to carry on this goalscoring tradition of recent seasons, and the absence of one could cost the club in their pursuit of Premier League promotion.

As such, the January window could present the ideal opportunity to emulate an Armstrong-esque deal of 2018, and if they are able to do so, it could make all the difference in their bid for promotion like he did that season.

It's perhaps harder than ever to replicate such a transfer, with transfer fees going up and up for promising 20-something strikers from Premier League clubs, but there will be someone out there that could try and do the job that Armstrong once did best for Rovers.