Fresh development emerges in Blackburn Rovers, Duncan McGuire transfer saga | OneFootball

Blackburn Rovers look set to launch a third attempt to sign American striker Duncan McGuire, as a club official prepares to head out to the United States to scout the forward, according to reports.

McGuire has been a major source of shame for Rovers this season, after an administrative error meant that the Lancashire outfit were unable to land their marquee mid-season signing to bolster the club's attacking unit.

The first time that they tried to sign him, the club's owners - the Venkys - pulled out of the deal when it was seemingly close to being done, as they pulled out of any moves that would have required transfer fees.

In their second attempt at a reworked deal, they fought off competition from Sheffield Wednesday, and it all looked as if the 23-year-old would be joining the Lancashire side on a temporary basis.

They had all the paperwork ready to go to make the deal official, but, instead of submitting the necessary documents to the EFL, they saved them, as per The Athletic.

Because the files hadn't been submitted to the EFL before the 11pm deadline on February 1, the EFL rejected the striker's move to Rovers, and the deal was off yet again, despite McGuire having completed all of his own formalities.

Blackburn haven't given up their pursuit of him though, as the latest developments have revealed.

Blackburn Rovers to scout Duncan McGuire again ahead of potential rekindled deal

Tom Bogert of The Athletic has reported that an official from Rovers is going to travel over to Florida this week to scout the American forward, as they look to re-engage in negotiations with Orlando City over another deal for McGuire.

City have made a new contract offer to McGuire, as per The Athletic.

They added that the club's secretary, Ian Silvester, had been sacked this week following an investigation into what went wrong in the previous attempts to get the 23-year-old in the winter window.

It was initially reported by Alan Nixon, vis his Patreon, that Silvester could be on the chopping block because of the McGuire debacle, and he recently said that the secretary actually left his position a month ago.

McGuire himself is in fine form at the start of the 2024 MLS season, scoring five goals from his first 10 appearances, adding to his 13 goals in 35 outings in his debut campaign in 2023.

If Duncan McGuire is open to another Blackburn deal, it would be a surprise

Many of the best footballers from the Americas want to make it over to Europe.

This is usually for two reasons - because the money in European football is greater than that of the salary of players in either North or South America, and they will receive greater exposure and opportunities to rise to the highest level there.

That appeal isn't going to subside quickly, so McGuire still wanting to make a move to a UK club should be of no shock to anyone. But, after what happened with Blackburn in January, there has to be major concerns about the club, from his perspective.

Yes, they have got rid of the person who seems to have been at the epicentre of this administrative error, but questions about the club, at large, should still remain after two failed attempts.

Not only that, but the travelling and things like that which he had to go through in order to get the deal done, on his side of things, might have left a sour taste in McGuire's mouth, given the way things ended up panning out.

There are also no guarantees that Blackburn will be a highly competitive club next season either.

Sammie Szmodics - the Championship's top scorer this season - looks all but set to depart this summer with expected Premier League interest, but they barely avoided relegation with him, so what would they be like without him?

That might be the question that is going through McGuire's head, and with interest from Belgium and Germany, per the Sheffield Star, as well as a new contract offer from Orlando, it may end up being a wasted trip for whichever Blackburn executive makes the trip across the Atlantic Ocean.