Blackburn Rovers' Summer Transfer Window: Luck vs. Ambition

Steve Curwood insists Blackburn Rovers did not lack ambition this summer – only luck, timing and a bit of football’s darker side.

The new CEO, barely two months into the job, has walked straight into a storm over a transfer window that yielded just four signings and ended with three collapsed deals on deadline day. Supporters are angry. Curwood knows it.

“Everyone is frustrated,” he admitted on BBC Radio Lancashire, before mounting a firm defence of the club’s work behind the scenes.

Deals on the table, deals lost late

Blackburn’s window ended with a familiar modern football tale: agreements in place, targets identified, and then rivals swooping in at the last moment.

“Deals were on the table,” Curwood said. “Deals were agreed with players and clubs. We can talk about morals in football, maybe there aren't too many now and that's what's happened.

“We were gazumped at the last minute on a couple of deals, and one was a foreign one which took a bit more time than you would anticipate.”

BBC Radio Lancashire understands two of those failed moves involved Reo Hatate, who instead joined Burnley, and Brian De Keersmaecker, who chose Bristol City. Rovers were close. Close doesn’t count in September.

Curwood rejects any suggestion that the board refused to back Tony Mowbray.

“The investment has been there,” he insisted. “There hasn't been a reluctance (from the board). There has been collaboration throughout the process. I think at the final hurdle we haven't been able to get them over the line.

“Yes – it’s frustrating, we're frustrated, and Tony wanted that extra little bit of something which we haven't managed to do.”

A chaotic window and a late appointment

The word Curwood keeps coming back to is “chaotic”. He doesn’t run from it. He explains it.

Blackburn staggered into the summer still reshaping the dugout. Michael O'Neill had kept them in the Championship last season while doubling up as Northern Ireland boss, but turned down the permanent job in mid-May. That forced the club to pivot back to a familiar face, reappointing Mowbray on 5 June.

By then, the ideal planning window had shrunk.

“Ideally your manager will be in by the start of May to work out where are we going for next year,” Curwood said. “So that timeline has been constrained somewhat, and then conflated by injuries.”

Rovers then faced the classic dilemma: move early and compromise on quality, or wait and risk losing first-choice targets.

“If you want to do your deals early, maybe you can't go after the best players sometimes,” Curwood explained. “You've got to either wait and go for target number one with this risk, or cement one in the building because we know we can get him, like Jayden Fevrier for example.”

That approach meant a narrower focus. Fewer names. More risk.

“We might highlight three or four targets, but Tony wants to make sure the people here want to be here and play for him,” Curwood said. “Was it the wrong thing to do to push for the specific players Tony wanted? These things happen when you try to be specific, but none of us want to just bring in players to add bodies in the building.”

Outgoings, balance and big calls

Seven players left Ewood Park over the summer. With the recruitment shortfall, some fans now question whether the squad has been left exposed. Curwood stands by the decisions.

“You've got to allow the manager to make certain decisions,” he said. “The squad list was top-heavy. Certain players needed game-time, like George Pratt going to Bradford.”

Blackburn also resisted interest in some of their key assets. BBC Radio Lancashire understands they turned down offers for Ryoya Morishita, Sean McLoughlin, Balasz Toth, Yuki Ohashi and Ryan Alebiosu. That, in the club’s eyes, counts as part of the “investment” too: protecting the core rather than cashing in under pressure.

A whirlwind start and a promise

Curwood himself is still unpacking his bags. The 54-year-old arrived from League Two side Fleetwood Town and has barely had time to breathe.

“It's been a whirlwind since I arrived – with a transfer window, an administrator going to another club, and a senior physiotherapist leaving,” he said.

The first three months, he argues, will be about resetting how Blackburn operate, not just scrambling from window to window.

“The first 90 days will give me time to reflect and bring some of the processes this club need to improve where we are,” he added. “We'll be in a very different position moving into the next window, and beyond that.”

The frustration is real. Curwood isn’t denying it. The question now is whether Blackburn can ride out the short-term anger long enough to prove that this messy, missed-window feeling is a one-off – not the shape of things to come.