This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Blackburn Rovers have been told that a move for striker Scott Hogan would be "an unnecessary signing" after recent reports have linked them with a move for the free agent.
Pete O'Rourke has reported that Blackburn and their Championship rivals Oxford United are eyeing up moves for Hogan, who is a free agent after leaving Birmingham City at the end of the 2023/24 season.
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Rovers boss John Eustace worked with the 32-year-old during his time at Birmingham City and appears keen to reunite with his former striker, despite the Republic of Ireland being far from prolific in recent seasons.
Eustace has already brought the likes of Yuki Ohashi and Makhtar Gueye to the club this summer, but there is still uncertainty over Sammie Szmodics' future, which means there could be scope to bring in another striker to the club this month.
Blackburn Rovers urged to prioritise other signings over Scott Hogan
Our Blackburn Rovers fan pundit, Toby Wilding, believes that the club have other positions where new signings are needed more desperately, and that if they were to sign a striker it needs to be one with a better recent goalscoring record than Hogan.
Speaking to Football League World, Toby said: "Even with the obvious Hogan and Eustace connection thanks to their time at Birmingham City, this would seem like a strange one to me.
“I do think that another attacker might not be the worst addition to make. I don’t see it as a priority when compared to a goalkeeper, a winger or a left-back.”
“I’m not sure that this is something they need to focus on immediately, especially when there is experience in the squad with the likes of Danny Batth, Kyle McFadzean and Andreas Weimann, so in that sense, it doesn’t look like a move that is particularly necessary.
“If you are going to bring in a striker for Blackburn it needs to be one that is going to score goals, and that’s not something that Hogan has done a great deal of consistently.
“When you put all that together it would feel like a bit of an unnecessary signing almost for me.”
It would be a surprise to see Scott Hogan seal a Championship move this summer
Given his age and his goalscoring record last season, it would be a surprise if a Championship club opted to sign Hogan this summer.
The 32-year-old scored just one Championship goal in 26 appearances last season, a poor return, and Blackburn will need better than that.
|
Scott Hogan's 2023/24 Championship season - Fotmob | |
|
Appearances |
26 |
|
Starts |
11 |
|
Minutes played |
1,006 |
|
Goals |
1 |
|
Assists |
2 |
|
Shots |
23 |
|
Shots on target |
8 |
|
Chances created |
9 |
|
Duels won |
31.4% |
|
Aerial duels won |
27.3% |
It could be argued that Hogan's Championship experience would be an asset to some clubs in the division, not least Oxford following their promotion from League One, and you could arguably understand their interest in him, but not Blackburn's, despite his links with John Eustace.
As our Blackburn fan pundit Toby said above, they have more pressing transfer concerns, and signing a new goalkeeper, left-back or winger is more important than a striker at this stage.
For the opening couple of weeks of the season, Blackburn should put full faith in their new strikers, Ohasi and Gueye, before making any move to sign Hogan.
If their new strikers look off the pace at Championship level, then a short-term deal for Hogan could make sense, but for now they should stick with what they've got.