Blackburn Rovers boss John Eustace says he wants Blues target Sammie Szmodics’s situation sorted one way or the other soon.

TWTD revealed that Town were in discussions with the Championship side regarding Szmodics nearly a month ago with the Blues having put in an initial offer of £6 million.

That was rebuffed and a number of subsequent bids were made before Town made an offer of £8 million plus a further £2 million almost a fortnight ago, a figure which Rovers had indicated would be accepted, despite claims they had wanted an unlikely £20 million for the Colchester-born attacker.

But Rovers turned down that bid, triggering Szmodics, who is understood to be very keen on the move, and his agent to hold showdown talks with the Rovers management last Tuesday.

There appears to have been no movement since then, while one report claimed the parties were £500,000 away from an agreement.

“It's very important that we get this sorted with Sammie, one way or the other,” Eustace told the Lancashire Telegraph when quizzed on the position.

“We want him to stay at the football club, he's a terrific player. He's one of the best players in the Championship and if we can keep him, it'll be fantastic.

“It's important that we sort his future out as quickly as we can because it's not fair on the lad and it's not fair on the club.

“I’m surprised that nothing has been done. It is a bit frustrating but we have to get it sorted one way or the other.

“It has been disruptive but it's out of my hands, I can't do much about it. We get on with it, we have a great squad of players that can come in and fill different positions if they're needed. There are no issues. 

“Yes [I’d like to draw a line in the sand] but again that's out of my hands. That is up to the club, they're talking and they're in charge of the money side. My job is to coach the team.”

Szmodics hasn’t featured in Rovers’ last three friendlies and has trained only sporadically while discussions regarding his future have been ongoing.

“Sammie is short of match fitness, he hasn't been in any of the pre-season games really,” Eustace added.

“He hasn't been training with the group as much as he'd want to either because of all the different things going on. He is short of match fitness.

“We'll have to wait and see. What I will say is that he's a fantastic professional and when called upon, he'll be 100 per cent committed and ready to go.

“Sam is a top, top player at this level. Would we like him in the starting XI? Of course, we would. Eventually, that might happen.

“At the moment, he hasn't trained or played for the last three or four weeks. We have to protect the lad as well.

“[Could he be involved against Derby in the Championship season opener on Friday?] Possibly, we'll have to wait and see.”

Questioned on the Blues’ interest in Szmodics on Saturday, Town boss Kieran McKenna remained tight-lipped.

Szmodics came through the youth ranks with Colchester United before breaking into their first team in 2013 prior to a spell on loan in non-league with Braintree.

A move to Bristol City, where Blues CEO Mark Ashton was then in charge, followed in 2019, prior to a switch to Peterborough, initially on loan, before he joined Blackburn in August 2022.

Last season, the forward was top scorer in the Championship with 27 goals, leading to his first international call-ups. He has now won four full caps.

Elsewhere, former Blues midfielder Teddy Bishop, 28, has left Lincoln City having failed to agree a new contract with the League One side.

Photo: Nurphoto

dirtydingusmagee added 17:06 - Aug 7 time to tell Eusless where to go, and move on ,we are not going to be ready for prem,pansying about with the likes of him .
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dirtydingusmagee added 17:12 - Aug 7 hate to say it but we are really going to get turned over in prem , haters can hate but results will soon be coming in and you can slag me off if wrong. NOT NICE BUT, HAVE BE TO REALISTIC, we are not prepared and are under gunned. Barring a miraculous signing spree .
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TimmyH added 17:22 - Aug 7 Yawn!...for gods sake lets hope we have other irons in the fire!
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Carberry added 17:23 - Aug 7 Exactly dirtydingusmagee, as well as lacking Premier League experience on the field seems like we don't have much that works at this level off it.
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Leejames99 added 17:58 - Aug 7 This is all doom and gloom, nobody thought we would get back to prem so quick, we had nearly same team in prem when promoted with Burley in first season and players will come, I have heard Oxelainde Chamberlin is a possibility for midfield, I think Szmodics will come and we still may get Clarke and Danny Ings or similar as a target man while Hurst injured, its better that Town staying quiet, Mckenna said we need signings and signings we will get, the top teams all just got back from USA, Carvaleo from Liverpool would be great signing and he played with Greaves and Delap last year. Who knows we may even get Philogene on loan as can't seem him getting much game time at Villa. Patience is a virtue. COYB in Mckenna and Ashton we trust, they got us this far!

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ArnieM added 18:00 - Aug 7 So, has SS gone on strike if he’s training only a couple of times a week, and isn’t included in any pre season games?
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Bazza8564 added 18:01 - Aug 7 Clearly the guy is coming, and respectfully ill believe the 500k thing and not some other excuse when i hear it from Mark Ashton. Blackburn have lost this lad if he hasnt trained with them in ages, it's obviously he is coming here, and equally obvious they need the cash. get it done
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dirtydingusmagee added 18:21 - Aug 7 I want Town to do well ,but not dreaming,survival this season is the main thing, im just saying imo we are going to really have to fight to do that and are not ready we will have a very rough ride
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Dissboyitfc added 18:54 - Aug 7 Really not sure why there is all this doom and gloom! I am pleased with the business we have done so far, spent considerably more than a lot of clubs and considering transfers are generally down everywhere! A lot of rubbish has been spouted by some posters on here, and by some who claim to be real authorities on Ipswich town and how the transfer system works. We will be getting in 2 quality loans, lots of teams have done very little Business so a reluctance to release players on loan surely exists and will release players in due course. I am fully confident that we will sign another 2 or 3 permanently, so around 11 additions! Those panicking and saying we wont be ready, should stop panicking because whilst we will want 3 points on the opening day not really sure I see points from our opening 2 games tbh. we need to be ready to take points off of those that are likely to be battling with us to avoid relegation, any points from other teams are a massive bonus!

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Carberry added 19:27 - Aug 7 The reason I don't believe this reflects well on us is that Szmodics isn't Ivan Tony or Olly Watkins, he's a Championship player who had a great season and we are hanging on and hanging on to sign him. Where are our other options? Where are the players who will walk into the team not add competition for places, the players who have some Premier League experience, who have qualities which are better than we have now. To the outsider we are building a Championship winning team not a Premier League survivor, the gulf is huge. It's also concerning we don't have international players on our radar. Apart from the occasional link with foreign players, which is probably agent talk, we don't show any potential to make overseas signings so far. That may change but it looks like this is a new world which we don't currently inhabit. We'll see where we are at the start of the season but like others on here I don't have confidence in what we are trying to build, at the moment.

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Ipswichbusiness added 20:18 - Aug 7 Perhaps he is busy driving round Ipswich with Mark Ashton.
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blues1 added 21:00 - Aug 7 Carvery. We arent able to sign top pl players. What part of that don't you get? For 1 we have to avidexby the PSR. Amd we get less money for getting promoted, than either leicester or Southampton. 2. Experienced pl players are less likely to go to a team just promoted, than one who are established. So we have to pick off the best championship players. Those who jusgcmay make the step up. To suggest thst Szmodics won't bcse of his age, makes no sense. Vardy the perfect example of a player who made it late in the pl. No reason Szmodics couldn't.

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JewellintheTown added 21:09 - Aug 7 Ashton should put a new bid in every day, dropping it by £100k each time. BB will soon get the message not to mess us about.
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del45 added 21:31 - Aug 7 I think as it stands we could be in trouble if we don't get any signings in very soon. What is going on with our injuries.
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IpswichToon added 22:00 - Aug 7 I wouldn’t mind betting that the club has already moved. We’ve shown already that we don’t bend to others’ games.
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Carberry added 22:14 - Aug 7 Oh dear blues 1, you just have a kneejerk reaction to everyone on here. I'm not suggesting we sign top Premier League players, I'm suggesting we sign players who have experience in the division and who are better then we have. I wish I could decipher your post, you should try harder to write something readable so I can refute it.
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davidsc1971 added 00:22 - Aug 8 Walk away, take it or leave it. Let them deal with a wantaway player they've unsettled through greed. What an awfully run club, players seem to be commodities. Chalk and cheese from us now
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blues1 added 07:45 - Aug 8 Carberry. Sorry for the few mistypes, but predictive text doing it's best. Should prob check my posts before sending. It's not easy to sign experienced pl players, as a newly promoted club bcse they'd rather go to an established pl club. We didnt sign any in 2000 that I recall. Didn't do us any harm. We do have experienced pl players already tho. Tuanzebe, Johnson, Townsend. Muric a bit, Delap a little. Of course it would be good to get one or two more but as I say, just not that simple. So picking off top championship players, is the way to go. If we can stay up, then next summer it will be easier to attract those players you talk about.

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MickMccarthyWasRight added 09:10 - Aug 8 Pay that man his money!!
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Carberry added 10:36 - Aug 8 Thanks blues1. We want the same outcome, we just have a difference of opinion about how we should or could get there.
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atty added 10:39 - Aug 8 Starting to get a bit concerned, not least because of the Hirst injury, but mainly because of our limited resources in midfield. Defence seems sorted.
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BerksBlue15 added 10:50 - Aug 8 let's maintain some positivity - not just about this deal, but in general - we're becoming used to under the radar signings happening seemingly immediately but don't forget some deals do just take time. how long did it take Mbappe to finally sign for Madrid? just because a deal takes a while doesn't suddenly mean the player doesn't want to be there or isn't up to scratch. in McKenna we trust...

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number8 added 12:27 - Aug 8 Various media outlets are saying we are close to signing left winger Ryan Kent from Fenerbache.
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JewellintheTown added 13:25 - Aug 8 number8 - not Roy Kent from AFC Richmond, then?
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WhoisJimmyJuan added 13:41 - Aug 8 We did actually sign John Scales in 2000 who was very experienced at PL level. But he didn't feature much for us in truth.
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