Blackburn Rovers have reportedly agreed a deal to sign Rangers midfielder Todd Cantwell after talks earlier today.
The club have agreed a £500,000 fee for the former Norwich City midfielder, with his time at Rangers turning sour after a transfer request was handed in at the beginning of the summer. The deal is due to be completed in time for the midfielder to play in the Lancashire derby against Burnley on Saturday.
Cantwell’s career to date
Born in Norfolk, Cantwell joined Norwich City in his youth and progressed through the academy at Carrow Road, making his professional debut in 2018 before a loan spell with Dutch side Fortuna Sittard.
The 26 year old came back and was part of the Norwich side that won promotion to the Premier League in 2019-20 and 2021-22. His second spell in the Premier League with the Canaries didn’t have as much impact as his first. Cantwell made eight appearances the following season and joined AFC Bournemouth on loan for the remainder of the 2021-22 season to find his form again.
After failing to make an impact in East Anglia upon his return from the Dorset club, Cantwell joined Scottish Premiership side Rangers in January 2023 and has since made 66 appearances for the Gers scoring 14 goals.
The midfielder put a transfer request in at the start of the window and now is rumoured to be on the verge of signing for John Eustace’s side. Rangers have accepted the low offer of £500,000 for Cantwell having signed him on a free from Norwich.
The stumbling block for Cantwell’s signature originally was his wages but the 26 year old has supposedly taken a pay cut in order to get his career back on track at Ewood Park.
Will Cantwell improve Blackburn?
The former Norwich man brings a degree of versatility to his new side. Cantwell has the capability to play in the attacking midfield role but also play on the right hand side of the front three which he did at times for Norwich. Rovers will hope that he could form a similar partnership with the likes of Tyrhys Dolan and Joe Rankin-Costello to the one he had with Emi Buendia at Norwich.
Cantwell provides a consistent attacking threat from midfield. He scored seven goals and registered five assists for Rangers last season. The midfielder consistently got shots on goal with a 68% shot accuracy from an average of 3.21 shots per 90 minutes. Coupled with his attacking threat is Cantwell’s creative skillset having created 2.42 chances per 90 minutes on average last season.
The signing of Cantwell will be seen by many as Rovers’ attempts to replace the creativity and output of Sammie Szmodics and the Rangers midfielder could fit straight into the 4-2-3-1 formation deployed by Eustice so far this season.
Despite the difficulty settling within a side since his prime at Norwich, Blackburn will have an individual with experience of a title winning side in the Championship and also Premier League football. Cantwell’s signing would be Rovers’ sixth signing of the summer joining the likes of Andreas Weimann, Yuki Ohashi and Makhtar Gueye who signed earlier in the window.