In an attempt to comply with the Football League’s Financial Fair Play rules, Blackburn Rovers have allowed striker Leon Best to leave the club by mutual consent.
Best joined the Lancashire club in 2012 in a £3 million move from Newcastle United, but has failed to live up to expectations during his 3-year stint.
Best has made just 16 total appearances for Blackburn, notching just 2 goals in the process, and has spent most of his time out on-loan to clubs Sheffield Wednesday and Derby County.
Best’s reported £30,000-a-week salary was seen as being far too high for a player who has played just 14 league games for the club and has not appeared in the line-up since October 2013.
It has been a spectacular fall-from-grace for a player who once scored 6 goals in 11 Premier League matches just two seasons before joining Blackburn.
With Blackburn currently under a strict transfer embargo, they are only allowed 24 players to be registered for their upcoming Championship campaign and have allowed no-less than 11 players leave the club in order to lift the restrictions placed on them.
This reportedly leaves manager Gary Bowyer with just 18 established players in his side and he is only capable of making free transfers or loan deals if he hopes to increase his team’s depth to the maximum 24 players allowed.
Bowyer is reportedly happy with how his team has reacted to the changes, with his players thought to be bonding well and enthusiastic about the team moving forward.
If the embargo is not lifted by the Football League this season then the club will be hoping for promotion to the Premier League, which would effectively see Blackburn free from any restrictions the Football League placed on them.
The Premier League and the Football League are considered separate entities that set their own rules and standards, which means any teams promoted to the Premier League are no long obligated to comply to restrictions set by the Football League and vice versa.
The most recent example of this has been QPR, who had restrictions placed on them and then were promoted to the Premier League. Since being relegated back into the Championship, however,the question has been raised whether QPR should follow the restrictions placed on them prior to their promotion.
The season ahead could be difficult for Blackburn, should they remain under the embargo, but the core players they have retained are still capable of pushing hard for at least a play-off finish next season, with the club just falling short at the end of the previous season.
Where will Leon Best end up? Will he remain in the Championship or will he find a spot on a lower-tier Premier League club? Let us know in the comments!
