Blackburn Rovers' hopes of signing Koji Miyoshi took a big blow over the weekend.
The Lancashire Telegraph reported last week that the former Birmingham City attacker is a transfer target in the final three weeks of the window. Signing a right-winger to compete with Ryan Hedges is the priority for Rudy Gestede and the recruitment team.
Miyoshi was one of a number of names being explored by Rovers but their chances of signing him rapidly dropped after he played for his current side, Bochum, over the weekend.
The 28-year-old would have qualified for a GBE work permit due to the fact that he played in one of Europe's 'band one' leagues last season. Bochum were relegated from the Bundesliga and so Miyoshi gained enough points.
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However, after coming on as a half-time substitute in a 2-0 win over Elversberg on Sunday, Miyoshi now doesn't meet the criteria for a GBE work permit. As he's appeared in the 2.Bundesliga, a band four league, his points are weighted in that division, meaning he doesn't qualify.
As a result, he would require an ESC slot in order to sign for Blackburn Rovers. They do not have any left after signing Axel Henriksson with the Swede joining Balazs Toth, Augustus Kargbo and Exauce Mafoumbi in their four slots.
There are two ways that Rovers could free up a space in this transfer window. That would be to either sell or release one of the players, which realistically could only happen with Mafoumbi. The striker, signed last summer, is yet to play a minute for the first team and wasn't given a squad number.
The other option is to hand Mafoumbi his Championship debut. As the player hasn't yet made his senior debut for any club, making his first appearance in a bad two league would earn him five points. He'd then get an additional 10 points for playing in the Championship, hitting the 15 needed to qualify for a GBE work permit.
As Mafoumbi signed more than 12 months ago (last July), he's eligible to convert from an ESC to a GBE permit in this transfer window.
So if Rovers want to sign Miyoshi, Moussa Baradji or any other players that don't qualify for a GBE permit, those are their only options.
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