Former Norwich City, Sunderland and Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Danny Batth is close to joining Championship side Blackburn Rovers, according to Sky Sports News.
The 33-year-old recently had a one-year spell at Carrow Road as the Canaries finished inside the play-offs under David Wagner. Nevertheless, the Norfolk club missed out on the final following a 4-0 defeat on aggregate to Leeds United in the semis. Batth was not a regular in Wagner’s side, making merely 16 appearances in all competitions for Norwich and starting just seven times.
At the start of July, the central defender was released from his contract and has been a free agent ever since. However, he is not set to be out of action for too long as Sky Sports have revealed that the veteran is closing in on a move to Ewood Park and will sign a one-year deal with the Lancashire outfit.
The centre-half has a wealth of experience in the English Football League and has even previously earned four promotions with three separate sides – twice with Wolves, once with Sheffield Wednesday when he was a youngster and another with Sunderland in the latter stages of his career.
Following the recent departure of Sam Gallagher to Stoke City for a reported £1.5 million and the prospective loss of Sammie Szmodics to newly-promoted Premier League side Ipswich Town, Blackburn Rovers have been splashing the cash.
This week alone, the club have confirmed the arrivals of centre-forwards Yuki Ohashi, Makhtar Gueye and Exauce Mafoumbi. Furthermore, it was announced on Wednesday afternoon that 37-year-old centre-back Kyle McFadzean has extended his stay at Ewood Park by a further twelve months after a short-term spell with the side in the second half of the previous campaign.
Batth will now become Blackburn’s fifth senior signing of the summer window as head coach John Eustace looks to avoid a repeat of last season’s narrow relegation escape.
Writer’s View
Blackburn Rovers have been doing plenty of business over the past few days which will offer fans huge encouragement heading into the new season, although whether the new acquisitions prove their worth in the forthcoming campaign is yet to be seen.
Bringing Batth in is a solid decision by the board as he has a lot of experience in the Championship, but so does McFadzean. The worry would be the age of the backline. Having two players in their mid-to-late 30s at the heart of the defence may not fill supporters with too much confidence defensively and could become problematic when games start coming thick and fast.
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