Blackburn Rovers

This week, our Rovers' Jury discuss the future of Igor Tyjon.

We're always very proud of our Academy graduates and, at one point, it seemed like we had a potential star on our hands after Tyjon's early reviews.

After looking forward to him breaking through last season, it left a bitter taste in the mouth, especially with the rumours around a potential move and Tyjon's (un)willingness to play. Personally, I'm happy to give the benefit of the doubt to a young man who naturally would be tempted by offers elsewhere (which could still happen).

I'm not against his reintegration into the squad. As will be a running theme of my assessment of Rovers this summer, we aren't blessed with cash to spend, so using what we have in the building is a wise strategy.

There's no escaping that we need more numbers in attacking areas of the pitch. The key question and consideration will be where would Tyjon play?

Is he strong and wise enough yet to play as a number nine and challenge those more senior? Or would he be better as cover for Matias Jorgensen, playing as a forward who is happy to run the channels and get wider. The latter is probably where I would see him at this stage. Even with a plan that reintegrates Tyjon, I would like to see another striker ideally.

All of the above is of course predicated on Tyjon's desire to play for Rovers too. If there are any niggling doubts and a repeat of last season, cashing in might be the best plan. I hope it doesn't come to that.

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For me, Tyjon has always been a player surrounded by hype, but if I’m being honest, I’ve not personally seen enough yet to fully understand it.

The talent is clearly there. You don’t attract reported interest from Arsenal or have both England and Poland trying to persuade you to represent them without having something special. But in the brief glimpses we saw at first-team level last season, he looked some way off. Even in the FA Youth Cup against Manchester City, he didn’t really stand out, although he spent much of the evening doing the less glamorous side of the game and defending out wide.

The appearance against Accrington Stanley, however, was more encouraging. He looked fitter, sharper, hungrier and, most importantly, he wanted to make things happen every time he got on the ball.

If we’re prepared to give opportunities to young players arriving from other clubs, then I’d like to think we’d do everything we can to give one of our own highly-rated academy products the same chance. That should be one of our biggest selling points.

The caveat is the contract. If he’s asking to be paid like an established first-team player, he has to earn that. If, however, he’s simply asking for terms comparable to other young fringe players, and the club genuinely believe he can contribute, then I’d rather we backed our own and found out just how good he can become.

(Image: CameraSport - Lee Parker)

For me, it is quite simple. Whether Igor Tyjon signs a professional contract with Blackburn Rovers or not, I do not believe he is part of the club's medium or long-term future.

If he does sign, I would expect a release clause to be included in the deal. Should he fulfil his potential, one of the Premier League's biggest clubs will almost certainly come calling, much as they did with Ashley Phillips.

The reality is that Tyjon's value immediately increases if he becomes an Arsenal player. It may not seem fair, but that is the modern football market. As things stand, Rovers are unlikely to realise the full value they believe he is worth. Selling now, while negotiating strong sell-on and performance-related clauses, would be the most sensible and financially rewarding approach.

Some will argue that Tyjon should stay at Rovers rather than move for the money. The reality is different. Whatever opportunities he could receive at Blackburn, he is likely to receive at Arsenal, while earning a salary that would be several times greater than anything Rovers could offer.

The recent reports surrounding Louie Barry's contract underline the financial gulf that now exists. Tyjon could continue his development in Arsenal's academy before gaining experience on loan in the Championship or League One and, in the process, increase his value. Realistically, that is a similar pathway to the one he would follow at Blackburn.

For me, the sensible option is to sell now, secure the strongest possible clauses and wish him every success.

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This is not an easy one to unpack.

Holding onto a young prospect who has climbed through the ranks, looks ready for first team involvement and is relatively low cost seems like an absolute no-brainer.

Taking a 360 view of the situation, though, makes things a little easier to see why Tyjon himself might not be that keen to hang around, mainly due to the amount of traffic that is building up ahead of him for game time.

Gudjohnsen, Jorgensen, Ohashi and even Augustus Kargbo are all eligible to play in the more forward roles, and Rovers haven't exactly been quiet about wanting to add more goals to the side too.

The club might want to keep him, but with that in mind, does he want to stay?

So with all that in mind, the right thing to me would be to absolutely push on and keep him - he looks a little lightweight to me but is technically a very strong player - but loan him out for some further development.

Rovers shouldn't be letting good players go without a fight; in our financial predicament, the academy is our most sustainable route to adding numbers and quality.

So up the offer and create a desirable path for the lad.

You can listen to Ryan on The Lancashire Telegraph's Arte et Labore and find Mark on The Blackburn End. Available on all podcast platforms.