"A huge profit" - £450k signing tipped as one of Blackburn Rovers' best bargains | OneFootball

Christopher Samba joined Rovers in January 2007 and played a key role in keeping the team in the Premier League in the following years.

Highlights

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Blackburn Rovers will always be thankful for the January 2007 arrival of Christopher Samba, with the centre-back playing a key role in Rovers' Premier League survival in the following seasons.

Samba joined as a 23-year-old from Hertha Berlin in Germany for £450,000 by Mark Hughes, with Rovers sitting just outside the top half of the table.

After making his debut against Chelsea in a 3-0 defeat, the centre-back became an integral part of Hughes' team, starting in all 13 of the next league games until the end of the season, with Blackburn finishing 10th.

Samba also scored twice in his debut season, first against West Ham United and then while playing Watford, and it was a trend that followed him throughout his Rovers career.

Samba was imperative to Blackburn's survival

The former Congolese international made 185 appearances for Blackburn over five years and scored 18 goals, finding the back of the net once every 10.3 games, an impressive return for a centre-back.

His aerial threat, both defensively and offensively, made him stand out compared to his colleagues, and it brought an exciting edge to his game.

However, this likely came as no surprise to his coaches from his youth, with the 6ft 4in defender having started his playing days as a forward.

Producing such moments was key to FLW's Blackburn fan pundit, Toby Wilding, has picked him out as one the club's best bargain buys.

He said: "Obviously, he was an absolute towering presence at the back for Blackburn, and it didn't take him long at all to settle in into the Premier League. He then became an absolutely key figure in keeping Rovers in the top flight for many years.

"It was not just his colossal performances at the back either though, he chipped in with some important goals as well and, he was vital in helping me enjoy a few more successful years in the Premier League."

Blackburn made a great profit on Samba

After such great success in the blue-and-white of Blackburn, it was obvious that he would not drop to the second tier, and so, in February 2012, he moved to Russia, joining Anzhi Makhachkala for £9 million plus add-ons of around £2 million.

Rovers made a good profit on Samba, having brought the best out of the former Aston Villa man, and giving the club extra years in the Premier League that they might not have had without him.

Toby believes that the deal for Samba, and the resulting years with him at the club, makes him one of the best signings in the 21st century.

He said: "When he did eventually move on just over five years later, he went to Anzhi Makhachkala in Russia, that was for a massive fee of around £12 million at the time, so that was obviously a huge profit as well.

"So, I think all around it was a really good bit of business there in terms of the money made and performances that he produced consistently on the pitch at the top level for Blackburn, which were immense."