Francis Jeffers issues bold Blackburn Rovers, Rangers transfer prediction | OneFootball

Francis Jeffers offers his bold opinion on Blackburn Rovers' new signing Todd Cantwell

Former Blackburn Rovers and Rangers striker Francis Jeffers believes that the former's new addition Todd Cantwell, who joined the Lancashire outfit on transfer deadline day from the Glasgow giants, could be the signing of the season.

After narrowly avoiding relegation last campaign, John Eustace's men have enjoyed a strong start to the new Championship season, and are unbeaten, having played four games prior to the international break.

The Ewood Park faithful will also have been satisfied with their side's 1-1 draw away from home against bitter rivals Burnley on 31st August, a point they managed to hold on to despite Makhtar Gueye's red card on 57 minutes.

While Rovers will be pleased by their start to the new season, in which they have won eight points from a possible 12, they will hope that new signings such as Cantwell as well as Lewis Baker can have a positive impact this term.

Jeffers makes bold Cantwell prediction

In a Football League World exclusive, Jeffers said: "Cantwell has shown his quality in the past at Norwich and just needs to get game time and his confidence back, and he can produce top quality performances game after game.

"Come the end of the season, it could be one of the signings of the season."

As reported by the Independent, Cantwell handed a transfer request to the Gers before making his return to English football, so he will be particularly keen to hit the ground running at his new club.

Cantwell will hope to re-establish his old Norwich City form

The former England Under-21 international is a familiar face to Championship fans thanks to his previous exploits with Norwich, where he rose through the academy ranks and became a first-team star.

During his latter years with the Canaries, Cantwell was not particularly impressive, as he failed to make a single goal contribution in eight Premier League appearances during the 2021/22 season, before being offloaded on loan to Bournemouth, then of the Championship, in January 2022.

However, the creative midfielder's loan spell in Dorset did not go to plan, as he also failed to score or assist for the Cherries in 12 second-tier outings.

After returning to the Canaries ahead of the 2022/23 season, Cantwell once again failed to make any goal contributions in 18 Championship appearances, prompting his former club to sell him to Rangers in January 2023.

But in years gone by, the 26-year-old showed how good he can be in Norwich colors, as he scored six goals and two assists in 37 Premier League appearances during the 2019/20 season, despite his club's relegation from the top flight at the end of the season.

Cantwell then managed to fire his side back to the top tier as he scored six goals and assisted a further six in 33 Championship games during the 2020/21 season.

Blackburn fans will hope that their new midfielder can re-ignite the sort of form he displayed during his Canaries days, while Rovers will hope to enjoy a comfortable end to Eustace's first full season with the club.

Furthermore, Cantwell also managed seven goals and five assists for Gers in the Scottish Premiership last campaign and also scored in the Europa League, and the Ewood Park faithful will hope he can produce the goods in the Championship this season.

Eustace and co have an uphill battle on their hands to plug the gap left behind by the exit of Sammie Szmodics, who joined Premier League newcomers Ipswich Town in the summer after scoring 27 second-tier goals last campaign, but the addition of Cantwell could go some way to easing that blow, especially if he can live up to Jeffers' bold prediction and prove himself as one of the signings of the summer.