If Blackburn Rovers are to avoid the dreaded drop-down into League One, then Sammie Szmodics will have a lot to do with it.
With 20 league goals this season and 26 goals overall in all competitions, the 28-year-old attacker leads the Championship in scoring.
Other teams will surely be taking notice of such figures.
In the FA Cup fifth round replay last week, Szmodics scored a goal against Newcastle, and his performance is likely what attracted the attention of teams looking to sign him this summer.
The 2024–2025 season will be extremely difficult for the team if and when he leaves Ewood Park, especially with head coach John Eustace under a lot of pressure to make trades.
With Jon Dahl Tomasson’s departure a month ago, Blackburn has already experienced a great deal of unease this year. A fascinating disclosure was made a few days ago by the new manager of the Sweden national team.
He stated to the Swedish publication Fotboll Skankalen: “The circumstances at Blackburn were challenging.
“They were making budget cuts.
“I signed for a project that was no longer there.”
Given this, even if Blackburn loses their star player, it’s unlikely that Eustace will receive much support in the transfer market this summer.
If Eustace had a lot of money to spend, replacing so many goals in a season would be easy, but given their current situation, it will be far more difficult.
Szmodics is so important to Eustace and Blackburn
On February 24, following Blackburn’s 1-1 draw with Norwich City at home, Eustace singled out Szmodics and complimented his dedication to the cause.
The Lancashire Telegraph was informed by the Rovers manager that “I think it’s important that we give Sammie Szmodics a special message too.” His wife delivered birth this morning, and he didn’t get any sleep last night—he was at the hospital till two in the morning. When kickoff arrived at 2:00 PM, he declared he was prepared. He gave a fantastic performance today.”
That demonstrates Szmodics’s significance as well as how contagious his attitude is among the team members. He offers much more to the table than just objectives.
Between now and the end of the season, Blackburn needs that.
Beyond that, they’re probably going to lose him, which would be devastating for them.
Just use Middlesbrough as an illustration. Prior to losing Chuba Akpom—the Championship’s top scorer in 2022–2023 with 28 goals—to Ajax in the summer, Boro finished fourth in the previous campaign.
Entering the final stretch, Michael Carrick’s team is now a significant outsider for the playoffs.
Blackburn’s loss of Szmodics will have a comparable impact on the team the next season, but in the worst case, it will push them into League One rather than from near the top to mid-table.
For Blackburn, 2024 has been a complete disappointment thus far, and the worrisome part is that things can still become worse if Szmodics leaves.
Szmodics is leading Blackburn’s fight to stay up
Szmodics hopes to maintain them in the second tier in what is expected to be the most fierce battle for survival the Championship has seen in a long time.
While Szmodics will be a summer transfer target for clubs, his current priority is to keep Blackburn in the league.
In all likelihood, elite Championship clubs will make an appearance this summer. The player might also get interest from the Premier League, but there would be doubts about his taking that next step. In any case, he will be noticed by a few come summertime, and you wouldn’t be shocked to see him leave unless Blackburn demonstrated some kind of desire to keep him and advance.
It will be quite difficult for Blackburn to hold onto him if and when they do come knocking, particularly if they lose to League One.
If Szmodics departs, Blackburn’s loss will undoubtedly be another club’s gain.
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