Player expected to stay despite Blackburn being ‘very close to agreement in principle’ – Situation has changed

It appears that Blackburn Rovers, despite having done a lot of the hard work in their attempts to sign Ibrahima Koné from Lorient, will have to look elsewhere to bolster their attack.

This is according to L’Equipe, who explain the Ewood Park club ‘were very close to an agreement in principle’ for the Mali international.

Despite this, the 23-year-old ‘should stay’ put this winter, and that’s because the club are about to sell Terem Moffi to OGC Nice.

With their star striker seemingly on his way out, allowing Koné to leave for Blackburn would only weaken their squad further, which is why they are now leaning towards keeping him.

The idea would have been for the Mali international to join on loan, and he was ‘very close’ to doing so, but the situation has now changed.

Koné had been used sparingly this season, starting just a handful of games despite his 21 appearances in all competitions, during which he scored two goals and picked up on assist.

That’s why Blackburn will have been interested, but they will now need to look elsewhere.