Blackburn Rovers: Sammie Szmodics, Ipswich Town transfer stance clarified amid £6m speculation | OneFootball

The Republic of Ireland international has been linked with the newly promoted Tractor Boys.

Blackburn Rovers are not in talks with Ipswich Town over the sale of star forward Sammie Szmodics, according to reports.

Ipswich fansite TWTD stated on Saturday that Kieran McKenna's side were targeting a bargain £6 million deal for the Championship's top scorer from the 2023/24 campaign.

They added that there wouldn't be any issues with personal terms, and that the prospective deal would include add-ons too.

Previous reports had linked him with other Premier League teams like Brentford, as well as Luton Town, who have been relegated back to the second tier after just one season in the top flight.

While Blackburn won't get in the 28-year-old's way if the chance of a huge increase in wages or a step-change in the level which he's playing at arises, such an opportunity is yet to present itself, according to the Lancashire Telegraph.

The East Anglian Daily Times have also claimed that the £6 million links between the Rovers player and Ipswich were wide of the mark.

Blackburn Rovers plan to keep Sammie Szmodics around in 2024-25

While there certainly looks to be strong interest in the previously £20 million-rated player, the possibility of Szmodics staying at Ewood Park is there.

Alan Nixon has reported that Rovers want to offer him a new deal, which will include a good pay rise, but he added that they will move him on if no resolution is found.

Similar reports from the aforementioned Lancashire-based publication came out around a month ago. They said that Szmodics is happy where he is, and their most recent statements also said that Blackburn are planning on having the Irish international for the upcoming campaign.

Money raised from other avenues, including a sell-on fee that they received from Arsenal's purchase of former goalkeeper David Raya, which brought £5 million to Ewood Park, has lessened the need to offload a valuable asset like Szmodics.

Blackburn have also sold Leopold Wahlstedt to AGF, which has recouped the money that they spent on signing him last summer, as per the Lancashire Telegraph, and Semir Telalovic, who has headed back to Germany with Ulm after just one year in England too.

Blackburn Rovers committing to transfer activity amid Sammie Szmodics links

The centre of defence is believed to be a big target for John Eustace at this stage of the summer transfer window.

Former Leeds United captain Liam Cooper has been linked with a move to Ewood Park. He is reportedly open to joining Rovers, and would be willing to drop his wage demands, according to the Lancashire Telegraph.

His age and asking price, in terms of weekly fees, were reported to be a potential stumbling block in a deal for the Scotsman, as per Nixon, so, therefore, they are also believed to be interested in a younger, cheaper option in Hull City's Sean McLoughlin.

Nixon said that he may be available for £500,000, but his salary would be smaller than Cooper's.

2024-25 must be used as a clarification period by Blackburn Rovers

At the moment, for both controllable and somewhat uncontrollable reasons, the direction that the club is heading in is a bit foggy. They only secured their Championship status for the upcoming campaign on the final day of last season, and their chances of making major improvements next season aren't large.

Szmodics' goals alone contributed 16 points to Blackburn's tally last time out - take that away and they would have been way adrift.

They need to figure out this season which way they want to go as a club, because, at the moment, it feels a bit unsure.

What are they trying to be? What do they want to be? How are they going to get there? Those are questions which don't have obvious answers when it comes to Rovers, but keeping Szmodics around at least gives them a goal threat.