Blackburn Rovers and Luton Town plotting move for 12-goal forward | OneFootball

St Gallen striker has emerged as a target, once again, for Championship clubs Blackburn Rovers and Luton Town.

As teams gear up for the summer, two sides that could still begin next season in a different division, Blackburn Rovers and Luton Town, are the reported pursuers of St Gallen striker Willem Geubbels.

EFL clubs have always occasionally looked to the continent to bolster their squad but that has ramped up quite a bit in the last 18 months or so and now play-off chasers Rovers and relegation-battling Luton are looking to Switzerland for their latest potential addition.

23-year-old Geubbels is also the reported subject of interest from Bundesliga outfit Union Berlin and it was reported that Union, as well as Blackburn and Luton, had offers rejected by the Swiss Super League outfit for the striker in the winter transfer window a few months ago.

Now, according to Fussball Transfers, the interest from the Championship duo remains alongside Union ahead of this summer with Geubbels and his St Gallen side heading into the end of season Super League relegation play-off round in May.

The quality of Geubbels

Former France youth international Geubbels joined St Gallen in the summer of 2023 on a permanent deal from Monaco and he has enjoyed an impressive stint in Switzerland.

After scoring six goals in his first 15 appearances for the Swiss outfit last season, he became more of a bit-part player in the 2023/24 campaign as they qualified for European competition for the first time since 2020.

However, this time around, he is St Gallen’s top scorer this season with 12 strikes in 27 Super League matches and he has notched a further three goals across all competitions in the UEFA Europa Conference League and the Swiss Cup.

He was on target once again, too, scoring the winning goal in a slender 1-0 defeat of Sion to extend St Gallen’s unbeaten run of form to four matches in the league last weekend.

Blackburn looked abroad for striking additions last season with the signings of Yuki Ohashi and Makhtar Gueye from Sanfrecce Hiroshima and RWD Molenbeek respectively with the pair having reasonable first seasons in England, notching 17 goals between them in the Championship.

As for Luton, they also brought in a striker from the continent in the winter window as Lasse Nordas joined from Tromso but the Norwegian is yet to score for the Hatters and goals have been an issue throughout the season with Carlton Morris their top scorer on eight in 41 appearances.

Blackburn & Luton’s uncertainty

As much as a striker may well be clearly at the top of each club’s list of priorities this summer, it must surely be acknowledged and recognised that whatever they do will be informed by the last couple of games this season.

Amid some off-field protests about the running of the club, Valerian Ismael has finally turned Rovers’ form around with a third successive victory coming on Easter Monday as they defeated Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

That win has left the Lancastrians four points off the top six and the play-off places with two games to go. They face Watford at Ewood Park this weekend before a trip to Bramall Lane to face Sheffield United on the final day.

Luton, on the other hand, have a real fight on their hands to preserve Championship status this season following their relegation from the Premier League last year.

Matt Bloomfield’s Hatters earned massive back-to-back wins over Derby County and Bristol City across the Easter weekend but they remain tucked inside the bottom three and the relegation places on goal difference.

They finish their season with a game against Blackburn’s fellow top six contenders Coventry City at Kenilworth Road this weekend before travelling to The Hawthorns to face West Bromwich Albion on the final day.