Blues forward Sammie Szmodics has admitted he refused to play for Blackburn Rovers while his protracted move from Ewood Park to Town was ongoing last summer.

TWTD revealed that the Blues were targeting the Republic of Ireland international on July 12th last year with discussions already having been ongoing for a couple of weeks. The £9 million-plus-add-ons deal was finally agreed on August 15th with the signing confirmed the following day.

During that time, the switch had been on and then off with Szmodics concerned that picking up a knock might scupper what was a dream move.

“It was quite an awkward pre-season because I didn't play,” he told the StillTalkingShow podcast.

“I refused to play. I don't mind saying that now. I tried to be the best I could be at Blackburn but I wanted to move to Ipswich because it's the Premier League. Like I said, it’s my dream.

“It’s back home for me, Ipswich as a club is amazing. The club Blackburn is amazing. When I was refusing to play I went to see [then-manager] John Eustace, who was absolutely unbelievable with me.

“I went to see him and said, ‘Listen, I don't want to disrespect the staff, the players, but I don't want to take any part in the pre-season games’. And he said, ‘That’s absolutely fine, I'll protect you and I’ll help you with whatever you want’.

“He could have easily said, ‘Who do you think you are?’. Which is not me. It’s not my character.

“Then it got to obviously the beginning of the season and the Ipswich move hadn’t come off yet. He said the season’s starting, so I remember sitting with my agent thinking I’ve got to play mate I can’t just refuse to play.

“I remember being on the bench against Derby first game of the season, I was, like, I'm on the bench and I’ve finished top scorer in the Championship last season.

“I’ve put myself on the bench by my actions. I came on, scored and then [Eustace] said, ‘You’re playing on Tuesday night’. He said, ‘You’re not refusing to play against Stockport in the cup’. I started, scored two and Ipswich came back in and it all happened.”

Reflecting further on refusing to play, he added: “I want to dive into that, the decision to not play because that's not an easy decision.

“A lot of people didn’t know and a lot of people just thought I was injured. It’s not my mannerisms to be rude but I just said, ‘Listen, I don’t want to play’.

“Then it got quite bad where it was like I was training on my own. I was going into Blackburn and training with the fitness coach and the director of football said, 'No, no, you need to train with the team now’.

“I said ‘I'm not training with the team' and that wasn’t to disrespect Blackburn, I don’t want the fans to get that wrong.

“I made it so clear that I didn't want to disrespect the players. I said, 'I don't want to train with the team because I'm not in the right headspace to train’.

“As soon as it looked like it wasn’t [happening], I was straight back in training and then when it looked like it could happen again, I was ‘I'm not playing games’.

“I think you’ve got to be pushing on this. I'm 29, I moved to the Premier League when I was 28.

“This was probably my last and only opportunity I get to play in the Premier League I had to do all I can to do that.”

Despite the issues last summer Szmodics has a lot of time for Rovers, for whom he scored 33 times in all competitions prior to joining the Blues.

“I still love the club. I still watch the results. I still know all the boys,” he continued.

“It was a tough moment because don't want to I didn't want to disrupt. It was the manager’s first pre-season with Blackburn. I didn't want to disrupt him.

“It's credit to Blackburn because they didn't have to sell me and they didn't have to buy me.

“I'm so grateful for those two football clubs. Also, you've got to be grateful for yourself because scoring goals got you there of course, but I'm so lucky.

“I had to pinch myself where I was leaving Blackburn Rovers for a massive club, going to a massive club. I thought, 'How lucky am I? This is amazing?”.

Szmodics scored four goals in 14 starts and seven sub appearances for the Blues in 2024/25, an ankle injury forcing him to miss much of the second half of the campaign.

Photo: Matchday Images

leroy2488 added 17:25 - Jun 14 A proper pre season before last season may well have helped him in truth.
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SouperJim added 17:34 - Jun 14 Similar to the Burgess situation now, you can't blame a player for doing what is best for their career. It's a short career and regardless of your playing ambitions, you need to make what money you can from the game as you'll be a long time retired.
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dazza added 21:03 - Jun 14 Lost a lot of respect for him with those comments. I bet he still picked up his wages every week! Imagine if we did if we were waiting for an outcome from an interview for another job. Footballers need to learn that they are under contract until a deal is done, so you do what the club is asking until you leave. Alternatively agree a period of unpaid absence with the club and that’s fair enough. Gives us a taste of things to come if he wants to leave ITFC.

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Ipswichbusiness added 08:05 - Jun 15 If another club makes a juicy offer for him this summer will he refuse to play for us?
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Bazza8564 added 08:47 - Jun 15 Sam has come back to East Anglia for his wife and kids. Hes a colchester lad and was desperate to spend his last contact here and then settle. Whilst I do understand the comments above it is clear this was 100% with the managers blessing. I think losing SS after the Fulham game spelled the last hope of us avoiding relegation, we looked so reliant on Delap without him. With a proper pre-season I'm looking forward to seeing him back

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MVBlue added 09:15 - Jun 15 Think I remember Eustace saying hes injured and thats that to the press at the time in the speculation. Playing along with the story.
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Ipswichbusiness added 14:49 - Jun 15 Bazaar; I hope that you are right as he is a talented player and I would like to see him stay on. However, it always makes me smile when people say something along the lines of he’s so settled here, house children in schools etc; don’t they know how easy it is to commute from Ipswich or Colchester to London?
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