Blackburn Rovers head coach Owen Coyle has told the Lancashire Telegraph that he tried to sign current Sheffield Wednesday striker Steven Fletcher.
Fletcher became a free agent in the summer after Sunderland decided to release him after he struggled to break into the first team for the longest time.There had been reports that many Sky Bet Championship teams had been trying to sign him but it was Wednesday who won the battle when he signed a deal to join the Owls.
And with Blackburn set to face Sheffield Wednesday tonight, Coyle has decided to reveal that they were one of the other teams that were trying to sign Fletcher this summer. The Scot had worked with Fletcher at Burnley when he scored the goals that fired the Clarets into the Premier League and he was hoping that the existing relationship could persuade him to move to Ewood Park.
However Blackburn simply couldn’t afford Fletcher’s wages and he decided to go to Wednesday where he is reportedly one of the highest paid players in the squad.
Coyle said: “I brought Steven Fletcher to the country for £2.75m and subsequently he went for £8m and then £14m. He’s a wonderful player.”
“I spoke to him in the summer to try and bring him to the club and he was keen to work with us again but when the representatives got involved financially we could get nowhere near it.”
“If I tell you the amount of players I have brought in for the salary what would have been involved to get Fletcher, then you’ve got more than half a team.”
