AT £5.5m per goal, or £687,500 per appearance, Leon Best must go down as the biggest waste of money in Blackburn Rovers’ history.

But, in a damning indictment of the way the club was being run back then, any number of the players who were signed alongside Best could rival him for that honour.

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Rovers made 10 permanent acquisitions in the summer of 2012 but only one – the shining light that is Jordan Rhodes – remains.

The rest have either been given money to go, like Best, or been allowed to leave for free.

It is estimated that the total cost of the business Rovers conducted three years ago is somewhere in the region of £40m.

You need look no further, then, for one of the major reasons why they are under a Financial Fair Play embargo and why they are scraping around the free transfer and loan markets.

It is also why, when offers come in for players Gary Bowyer does not want to lose, they have to be considered – and, in Tom Cairney’s case, accepted.

It is a horrible position to be in.

Unlike Best, of course, who, after two goals in 16 games, will leave Rovers considerably richer than when he agreed his four-year, £30,000-plus per week contract.

He was unfortunate to suffer a serious injury weeks after his £3m move from Newcastle United.

And it was not his fault that Rovers were willing to offer him such a ridiculous deal in the first place.

But, when he was fit and when he did play, goals against Derby County and Bournemouth aside, he never went anywhere close to justifying his transfer fee and wage packet.

His unprofessional spats on Instagram and his performances, or lack of, on the pitch did much to alienate him from the supporters and management alike.

Little wonder, then, there was cause for celebration – and if that sounds too strong a word, check out the responses on social media – when Best and Rovers finally agreed to part ways yesterday.

His departure gives boss Bowyer an extra space in an already small squad that can contain no more than 24 established players.

And, let’s be clear, despite the fact Best trained alongside his team-mates for the first time this summer on Tuesday, he had no future at the club, not even if the worst happened and Rhodes or Rudy Gestede followed Cairney out of the door.

He had burned too many bridges with both Bowyer and the fans. There was simply no way back.

That’s why, despite the fact that he will not have gone on the cheap – and it is thought that he will eventually have cost the club around £11m – Rovers have made the right move in paying him off.

It was for the Best.