Blackburn Rovers eyeing double swoop including move for QPR star | OneFootball

Rovers are possibly looking to poach two key players from the R's this summer.

Blackburn Rovers are weighing up a potential swoop for QPR striker Lyndon Dykes, as well as newly released R's goalkeeper Asmir Begovic this summer.

That's according to journalist Alan Nixon via Patreon on Sunday morning, in what would help Rovers boss John Eustace address two areas of need in his Blackburn squad.

The Lancashire side have made just one addition so far during the summer transfer window, with teenage winger Aodhan Doherty signing from Northern Irish Premiership side Linfield.

Blackburn eyeing up QPR swoop

Blackburn have already witnessed the departures of goalkeeper Leopold Wahlstedt and centre-forward Semir Telalovic over the last couple of weeks, and Eustace could see Dykes and Begovic as their replacements.

Revealed via his Patreon on Sunday morning, Nixon has stated that Rovers are working on a tight budget this summer, and are having to offer lower wages to their transfer targets.

Nevertheless, Nixon reports that Eustace is on the hunt for a new target man striker over the coming weeks, and QPR's Dykes is a name on his wishlist.

However, as a result of the aforementioned tight purse strings, a deal for the Scotland international would only be able to materialise should a swap deal be agreed between the two clubs, or if Rovers are able to raise funds through a player sale first.

Dykes, 28, would be linking back up with his former Rangers coach should he make the move to Ewood Park this summer, and that connection could boost the club's prospects of landing the former Livingston man.

Nixon also revealed that Dykes may not be the only player that Blackburn are looking to take back with them from their travels to Loftus Road, as newly released goalkeeper Begovic has been offered a contract by Rovers.

The respected journalist did, however, states that the 37-year-old veteran shot-stopper may not hold much of an interest in making the move up north at this stage of his career.

Blackburn Rovers signing Lyndon Dykes would be a risky gamble to take

With Rovers potentially having to deal with the loss of Championship Golden Boot winner Sammie Szmodics this summer, it's crucial that the club are able to find a source of goals before the market slams shut.

That's because behind Szmodic's 27 league goals, Rovers' next highest scorer from 2023/24 was tied between Arnor Sigurdsson and Tyrhys Dolan, who both scored five.

In Dykes, goals have been hard to come by for some time, with the big striker failing to register a double-figure goalscoring season since the 2020/21 campaign.

Finding the back of the net on just six occasions in the Championship last season, Dykes is coming off his lowest season for goals in his four-year QPR career, in what is the sort of form that would not exactly get Rovers fans overly excited.

With his contract valid with the Hoops until the summer of 2026, the R's will likely be asking for a respectable fee from Blackburn too, and so it's difficult to see how the pros outweigh the cons for Eustace's side when weighing up whether to strike a deal.

Asmir Begovic would not be a long-term fix for Blackburn Rovers

At 37, it's fair to say that Begovic is in the twilight years of his highly successful career.

A Premier League winner with Chelsea, and an FA Cup winner with Portsmouth back in 2008, the former Bosnian international has spent the vast majority of his almost two-decade-long career plying his trade at the top level of the game.

Whether that be spending time in Serie A with AC Milan, to numerous Premier League stints with Pompey, Stoke, Chelsea, Bournemouth, and most recently between 2021-2023, Everton.

But after spending a solitary season as the number one goalkeeper at Loftus Road in 2023/24, Begovic now finds himself without a club, and Rovers have potentially smelt a bargain.

Blackburn boast a young stable of goalkeepers, with Joe Hilton (24) and Aynsley Pears (26) Eustace's two remaining senior options heading into 2024/25.

Bringing a goalkeeper such as Begovic into that group could enable those two young shot-stoppers to learn from a player who's played at the highest level for many years, and could make them better goalkeepers for having that learning experience.