EXCLUSIVE: USMNT star McGuire’s Blackburn transfer faces collapse over missed deadline

Jacque Talbot

• 3 Feb 2024 07:00 CST
• 2 min read

Blackburn Rovers face a nervous wait to discover whether they have indeed completed a loan deal for Orlando City forward Duncan McGuire as FootballTransfers understands the transfer faces the possibility of breaking down.

McGuire was pictured with the Blackburn shirt on the evening of Deadline Day, with what had appeared to be a crazy saga brought to an end.

Yet just as the Ewood Park side missed the cutoff to sign 12 months ago, the Championship outfit are understood to once again have failed to hit a crucial deadline in the deal to bring the 22-year-old once-capped USMNT star to the club.

FootballTransfers understands that the club is aware of the situation and is awaiting the outcome of an appeal, which will be heard over the weekend.

For McGuire, it continues an unwelcome saga as he attempts to make his first steps into British football, with the American forward having endured a traumatic Deadline Day.

Having been flow to the UK on Wednesday, Blackburn were initially forced to pull out of a permanent deal for the player when it appeared that Adam Wharton’s move to Crystal Palace was in the balance.

Consequently, he went to a Sheffield hotel, where Sheffield Wednesday spent the day trying to sign him, yet when Wharton’s transfer to Crystal Palace clicked, Rovers were apparently able to get a done deal before the deadline.

Blackburn director of football Gregg Broughton commented: “We are really pleased to have secured the signing of Duncan McGuire.

“Quick, with good movement and a great finisher, Duncan has all of the attributes needed to follow in the footsteps of the many great strikers who have worn our famous colours.

“I have to give our recruitment team great credit for identifying him, tracking his progress and convincing him that this was the perfect next move for him in his career.”

O’Brien saga repeating itself?

Unfortunately for Rovers, though, FootballTransfers understands that they missed a key deadline with one piece of paperwork and the deal is once again in the balance.

The situation echoes that of O’Brien last season, who later told the i: “I’d undergone all my medical testing and had signed everything by 10.20pm, then did all the interviews and pictures ready for the announcement.

“But then at 11.05pm I was asked to sign another paper and there seemed to be an issue. It all unravelled from there.”