Blackburn Rovers are on the brink of a deal to sign Sanfrecce Hiroshima striker Yuki Ohashi, according to journalist Alan Nixon.
The 27-year-old is set to be ‘very close’ to a move to Ewood Park, with Nixon reporting that the club have flown the attacker in to sign a three-year contract in the coming days.
Ohashi moves to East Lancashire in a rich vein of form, having netted 16 times in 27 games in all competitions for current club Sanfrecce Hiroshima, who play their trade in the top-flight of Japanese football.
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The forward, who is valued at £900,000 by Transfermarkt, has spent his entire career thus far in his homeland, coming through the Japanese college system before a move to J1 League side Shonan Bellmare in 2018. Ohashi scored 24 times in 112 appearances at the club before switching to his current club, where he has spent the last year.
It’s this form which has caught the eye of Blackburn, who are looking to bolster their attacking options after a poor 2023-24 season. The East Lancashire outfit escaped relegation on the final day of the campaign, finishing 19th in the Championship.
Reinforcements are needed at Ewood Park to improve fortunes but it has been a quiet window so far, with only one senior signing having been made. Rovers have, however, been linked with a range of players recently as manager John Eustace looks to improve his squad, with the likes of free agent Danny Batth having been linked to the club alongside Ohashi.
Ohashi, who can lead the line up front as well as play in a more withdrawn attacking midfield role, is likely to act as a replacement for Sammie Szmodics, who looks set to leave this summer. The Republic of Ireland forward was the Championship’s top scorer last year with 27 goals and almost single-handedly kept Rovers in the division.
Szmodics has been linked with a move to the Premier League with newly-promoted Ipswich Town, and even if he doesn’t switch clubs Blackburn need to ensure they are less reliant on the 28-year-old. A move for Ohashi would therefore give them more firepower going forward as they look to make 2024-25 a more successful campaign than the last,
Writer’s View
This is a much-needed move after a quiet window for Blackburn. They desperately need to make signings on the cheap after a disastrous 2023-24 campaign, especially on the attacking front. Rovers were worryingly reliant on Sammie Szmodics to keep them up but he looks set to leave the club, so a replacement, or several, look badly needed.
Ohashi fits that bill with a similar playing style to Szmodics but is unproven outside of Japan. It’s a risky move but one that appears necessary given the club’s situation, and whether it pays off remains to be seen.