The saga surrounding Duncan McGuire rumbles on.
The USMNT striker was the subject of widespread transfer speculation on deadline day last week.
He arrived in the UK from Orlando City and looked poised to seal a late move to Blackburn Rovers, only for them to pull the plug whilst McGuire was in the air.
Sheffield Wednesday also wanted him, and McGuire then travelled to South Yorkshire to push through a move to Hillsborough, before Rovers put talks back on.
Eventually, Blackburn announced that McGuire had signed on loan, with a view to making the deal permanent this summer, but now it looks like McGuire might be heading back to the States sooner than expected.
Blackburn Rovers release club statement on Duncan McGuire
Earlier today, it was revealed that Rovers’ deal for McGuire could yet fall through following an error when submitting the paperwork.
And now, Rovers have released a club statement confirming that McGuire faces a premature return to the USA; all because of an ‘administrative error’.
Blackburn insist that they completed all the necessary paperwork on time but that the paperwork was ‘not processed within the prescribed time’.
Rovers posted this statement on X:
Blackburn incompetence could cost Sheffield Wednesday
Blackburn Rovers had this same problem in the last January transfer window when they tried and failed to sign Lewis O’Brien on loan from Nottingham Forest; for this to ever happen is bad, but for it to happen two years in a row is unacceptable.
It’s a huge pity for McGuire who came all this way, was kept waiting around on deadline day, and may now have to return to Orlando City and await a summer move instead.
Not only that, but Blackburn’s incompetence has left Sheffield Wednesday short of a striker.
The Owls wanted McGuire and although the Owls aren’t the best run in the league, they would no doubt have avoided this particular scenario, and that would mean that McGuire also had a club to press on with.
Danny Rohl and owner Dejphon Chansiri will no doubt be frustrated at how this saga has panned out, but if the club manages to stay in the Championship then they might be able to resurrect a summer move for Duncan McGuire.
If he returns to the States then he’ll surely be wary of joining Blackburn after this whole saga. But he knows that Sheffield Wednesday wanted him and he might be inclined to listen to what the club has to say in the summer.
Sheffield Wednesday return to league duties on Friday night with a home game vs Birmingham City, but the Owls are first in action against Coventry City in an FA Cup replay this evening.