Signings were being lined up, players being persuaded to stay and others were ruling out moves away, on this day in Rovers history.

Graeme Souness had tried in December 2000 to prise Tugay to Ewood Park, and although he proved unsuccessful then, promotion to the Premier League, and agreeing a seven-figure transfer fee with Rangers, looked to have done the trick.

Souness flew to Glasgow to start negotiations with Ibrox chairman David Murray and was confident of thrashing out a deal for the 30-year-old Turkish midfielder.

However, the one stumbling block would likely be a work permit, with Tugay ostracised from the national set-up after falling out of favour.

Tugay, who signed later that summer, was also in the headlines in 2008, with Rovers awaiting an answer on the 12-month extension he had been offered.

“Essentially, it’s a playing role but there could also be an opportunity for him to move into coaching, with Mark and his staff keen to help him with that side of things,” said chairman John Williams.

Souness was also on the hunt for additions in 2003, keeping an eye on unsettled Leeds United defender Michael Duberry as he looked to strengthen his squad.

Duberry’s career at Elland Road had stalled, and Souness was one of a number of manager’s watching his situation with interest.

One deal that was dead was a possible move for Greg Sandomierski as Rovers opted against turning his loan deal permanent in the summer of 2013.

The Pole finished the 2012/13 campaign between the sticks, and although Rovers had first option to sign him, they had informed the Belgian side they were looking elsewhere, having agreed terms to sign Simon Eastwood from Portsmouth.

Stephen Warnock was the subject of transfer speculation in 2009, but on the eve of the final game of the season at Chelsea, dismissed that as ‘just paper talk’.

Sam Allardyce had already lined up a permanent move for Gael Givet, another option at left back, but Warnock said he saw his future at Ewood Park.

He said: “I keep getting asked the same question and I say ‘ask the manager; it has got nothing to do with me.

“I am still under contract for three years I enjoy it at Blackburn Rovers, I always have done. It is great the manager is looking to get more competition in the squad as well, that really does not worry me.”

Benni McCarthy enjoyed a fine season at Rovers in 2006/07, his goals unsurprisingly leading to interest from elsewhere.

But Robbie Savage warned the South African the ‘grass isn’t always greener’ should he consider leaving, pointing to Craig Bellamy’s switch to Liverpool a year earlier as an example.

And believing Rovers were building something successful under Mark Hughes, the midfielder said: “Benni’s a great lad and he’s been brilliant for us this season, but I really hope he realises this is a club that’s going places.

“We’ve got a great manager, great coaching staff and some terrific players, so it bugs me when people see this club as a stepping stone.

Gary Bowyer, in 2014, was preparing to hold talks with Ruben Rochina as the Spaniard returned from his successful loan spell at Rayo Vallecano.

Rochina scored three times in his four month stay that helped the club pull off what had looked mission impossible to stay up.

Bowyer has kept in regular contact with Rochina and has even been out to see to him in action, and didn’t close the door on a place in the Rovers side moving forward, despite accepting the chance to remain in his homeland and play first-team football could prove tempting to the 23-year-old.

One long-running transfer saga came to an end finally in 2018, as almost 12 months after leaving, the Professional Football Compensation Committee ruled Rovers would receive an initial £425,000 from Bournemouth for Connor Mahoney, as well as additional clauses based on appearances and a future sell-on clause.

Also, in 2017, owners Venky’s brought in accountancy firms Deloitte and KPMG to carry out an overview of the club.

Each of the accounting giants would conduct individual reports on all aspects of the club over a four-week period at Ewood.

It was understood the move by the owners, which was in addition to club audits which are carried out by PM+M three a times a year, was planned even if Rovers had stayed in the Championship.

The one-off move to bring in Deloitte and KPMG was designed to look at operational efficiencies as well reviewing revenue streams, but not an in depth analysis of Rovers’ finances.