[themaclad]

Goalkeeper Aynsley Pears has signed a new four-year contract with Blackburn Rovers.

The 25-year-old established himself as first choice after Thomas Kaminski sustained a knee injury in February.

Pears retained his place after Kaminski returned to training, playing in the last 20 games of the season.

He had been set for a loan move to Portsmouth in January but the deal collapsed, and Pears seized his chance with Kaminski sidelined.

Pears made 26 appearances for the Championship club this season - including impressive displays in the Carabao Cup win over West Ham and FA Cup triumphs against Norwich and Birmingham - after clocking up just eight in the previous three campaigns.

He told the club website: "I've got some game time and that's all I've wanted since I joined the club. My future here is hopefully playing many more games and getting the club to where it wants to be.

"I didn't get the games during my first couple of years - I was on the bench a lot but still worked hard and felt I was getting a lot better as a goalkeeper.

"You can only prove that with games and I think I have done over the last part of the season. I'm looking forward to what the future could bring.

"You improve with confidence when you're playing regularly at the level and I've always felt that I am good enough. When you don't play for a couple of years, you need to test yourself and you need to confirm in your head that you can do it.

"The proof's in the pudding. I've felt I've performed well, I feel I need to keep getting better and I hope I will."

[themaclad]

Bradley Dack will leave Championship club Blackburn at the end of June.

The 29-year-old forward has spent six seasons at Ewood Park but will not be extending his stay with Rovers beyond the end of his current contract.

Dack helped Rovers to promotion from League One in 2017-18 and became a key figure at the Lancashire club, despite two cruciate ligament injuries.

Those knee injuries restricted the ex-Gillingham player to 167 appearances, in which he scored 57 goals.

His final outing for Blackburn was in the dramatic 4-3 win at Millwall on the final day of season, which denied the London club a play-off place and ultimately failed to secure one for Rovers themselves because of results elsewhere.

Dack bowed out with a message to the club, the fans and manager Jon Dahl Tomasson, saying: "Thank you to Jon for helping me to improve tactically and for improving my fitness.

"Obviously I feel like I could have played a bit more and helped the team a bit more, but it wasn't meant to be and it was a sad way to go out at Millwall."

He picked out the 1-0 win at Doncaster which secured promotion back to the second tier as the highlight of his time with Blackburn.

He added: "That League One season, to bounce back at the first time of asking, with that group of players - Charlie (Mulgrew), DG (Danny Graham), Richie (Smallwood), Corry (Evans), Benno (Elliott Bennett), Del (Derrick Williams) - just so many good guys and a great group of staff.

"Honestly, what a season. What an incredible night. Seeing Charlie score the winner there was absolutely incredible. And to have 4,000 fans there, it's probably the best night of my career, so I want to thank you for that."

[themaclad]

Daniel Ayala has announced he will leave Blackburn Rovers at the end of his contract in June.

The 32-year-old Spanish defender has been on the Ewood Park books for three years after leaving Middlesbrough.

His three seasons at Blackburn have been injury-hit, resulting in only 56 appearances, and his final game was the 4-3 win at Millwall.

That thrilling encounter saw Rovers narrowly miss a place in the play-offs on the final day of the league season.

"It's a bitter-sweet moment really," said Ayala, ahead of his departure on June 30.

"I've been really happy here for the last three years and part of me wanted to stay, because it's a great club, with great fans and great staff, but I know that it's part of football and I have to move on.

"I've had some really happy times here, but also some down moments as well, especially with a few injuries, which prevented me from playing as many games as I wanted and perhaps showing a bit more what I can do.

"Missing out on the play-offs in the last two seasons has been really frustrating, because I can see that the team has got enough to get there. For one reason or another we just fell short, but the club is in a great position to challenge again, with a great manager, a great group of players and real togetherness, and I firmly believe that they can get there."

Ayala is the second big name who has announced he is leaving Ewood this week, with Bradley Dack yesterday revealing his own future lies away from the club.

[themaclad]

Niall Ennis has joined Blackburn Rovers on a free transfer after rejecting a new contract at Plymouth Argyle.

The 24-year-old forward has agreed a four-year deal at Ewood Park with the option of a further year.

He played a key role in Plymouth's promotion to the Championship this season, scoring 14 goals for the Pilgrims, who won the League One title.

"Niall played a big part in our success last season," Plymouth manager Steven Schumacher told his club's website.

"We offered him a contract which we felt was fair but understand that he wants to pursue a new opportunity with Blackburn."

Ennis started his career at Wolves and had loan spells at Shrewsbury, Doncaster and Burton before joining Plymouth in January 2021.

He scored a total of 22 goals in 87 league appearances for Argyle.

[themaclad]

Blackburn Rovers have signed Vitesse Arnhem midfielder Sondre Tronstad on a three-year deal.

The 27-year-old Norway international will join Rovers on a free transfer on 1 July.

He had a spell at Huddersfield Town earlier in his career but never made a senior appearance for the Terriers.

Tronstad is the second player to join Rovers, who finished eighth in the Championship last season, this summer, after Plymouth forward Niall Ennis.

[themaclad]

Blackburn Rovers have signed Iceland international forward Arnor Sigurdsson on a one-year deal from Russian top flight club CSKA Moscow.

The 24-year-old was able to suspend his deal with CSKA under Fifa's terms relating to the conflict in Ukraine, and signs subject to visa approval.

Sigurdsson spent the past two seasons on loan at Swedish side IFK Norrkoping, where he scored 15 goals in 26 games.

He also spent time at Venezia in Serie A during the 2021-22 season.

Rovers have now made three summer signings, with Plymouth Argyle striker Niall Ennis and Vitesse Arnhem midfielder Sondre Tronstad also arriving.

[themaclad]

Former Blackburn Rovers striker Ben Brereton Diaz has joined Spanish La Liga side Villarreal after his contract ended with the Championship club.

The 24-year-old joined Blackburn in January 2019 from Nottingham Forest after a loan spell at Ewood Park.

The Chile international scored 47 goals in 177 Rovers appearances and joins Villarreal on a four-year deal.

Last season he scored nine goals in 43 league appearances as the club missed out on the play-offs.

Having switched allegiance to Chile after coming through England's youth set-up, he unexpectedly spearheaded the South American nation's 2021 Copa America campaign.

Chile narrowly lost to Brazil at the quarter-final stage and in all, Brereton Diaz has scored seven goals in 20 caps.

[themaclad]

Blackburn Rovers right-back Joe Rankin-Costello has signed a four-year deal to remain with the Championship club until the end of the 2026-27 season.

The 23-year-old broke through into the Rovers first team last season, making 32 appearances in all competitions.

Rankin-Costello came through the club's academy and has made a total of 71 appearances since his debut in 2017.

"This is probably the most special contract I've signed, given the ups and downs," he told the club website.

"The start of last season, I didn't really feel part of the team, but that made me want to be part of it even more and it's a great feeling to be part of it.

"I think last season made me mentally stronger and I think I dealt with the start of last season well, so when I came into the team, I felt like I could deal with anything."

After three appearances in August last term, one of which came in the league, Rankin-Costello struggled for game time until starting for the first team in their 2-0 defeat of Norwich following the World Cup break in December.

"Coming into the side at Norwich away, I didn't really feel any pressure, because at that point I thought I was going out on loan and I'd just be helping the boys out for one or two games before I went," he added.

"So I didn't really feel any pressure and then that just rolled on throughout the rest of the season. Things can change quickly in football, both for good and for bad, so you've always got to stay on the ball and just keep trying to improve and that's one of the big things that I took from last year."

[themaclad]

Blackburn have handed a four-year deal to promising teenage striker Harry Leonard until the summer of 2027.

The 19-year-old made his senior debut against Huddersfield in April, appearing four times in total before the end of last season.

The academy hot-shot - who has come through the ranks from the Rovers under-10s - top-scored with 20 goals for their under-21 side last season.

Leonard has scored in pre-season wins over TSV Hartberg and Barnsley.

[themaclad]

Tottenham Hotspur have signed England Under-19 centre-back Ashley Phillips from Blackburn Rovers.

The 18-year-old, who played eight times for Rovers in the Championship last season, has signed a five-year deal.

He joined Blackburn aged 12 in 2017 and progressed through the academy before making his first-team debut in 2022.

Tottenham activated his £2m release clause and the defender becomes their sixth summer signing under new manager Ange Postecoglou.

They have also recruited England midfielder James Maddison for £40m from Leicester City and Italian goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario from Serie A side Empoli, while Israel winger Manor Solomon joined on a free transfer after leaving Shakhtar Donetsk.

Loan deals for Sweden forward Dejan Kulusevski from Juventus and Spain full-back Pedro Porro from Sporting Lisbon have also been made permanent.

"I've matured so much at a young age and it really means a lot," said Phillips as he thanked Blackburn for developing his talent.

"Blackburn Rovers will always have a place in my heart and I wish the club all the best going forward."

Phillips has been a regular in England's youth set-up since he switched his allegiance from Wales in 2021 and he captained England Under-18s against Norway in June.

Tottenham's 2023-24 Premier League campaign begins away at Brentford on Saturday, 13 August.