Blackburn Rovers: Delay over Moussa Baradji's move explained

The Lancashire Telegraph previously reported that Baradji had failed part of his medical in July and returned to the Swiss side.

Rovers reignited their pursuit of the midfielder later in the window after agreeing to sell Lewis Travis to Derby County.

“Moussa came earlier, everyone knows the situation. The medical, everything was sorted and then we realised something maybe was wrong,” he said.

“We had to put a stop to it, do more medicals and re-negotiate with the club on the contract situation and the agreement.

“A few weeks after that, for some reason with his own club, they wanted to do more testing. We had the green light and backup from the board on the situation.

“We said, ‘Now you can come on loan, not a permanent, but with a view to signing’. Now when he is fully fit, he is going to be an asset for the club and bring his value. But that is also why he came in a bit later compared to the other ones.

“We signed Dion (De Neve), we signed Sidnei (Tavares) before the beginning of the season so we were prepared, but you have to adapt to the market.”

Gestede also spoke about the competition to get signings over the line this summer and one potential deal which Rovers walked away from following a Zoom call with the unnamed player.

“That is why you prepare so you have got different options - you talk to the first option and if it is not happening, you know the other one can do the job also,” he explained.

READ MORE: How Jordan Rhodes can help the next generation of talent thrive at Rovers

“It is never a straightforward situation. We had a few calls with players and some were very keen to join us, but then other clubs have got maybe some more financial power.

“That is just the reality of football. We want players committed to play for Blackburn Rovers, which is key for us.

“You also need to assess the character and once we have got everything aligned then we make the decision.”

The former striker added: “We had a situation with one player where we were very excited about him. Good physicality and video-wise everything was good. We go to the video (call) and no connection, he was not engaging.

“After the call we said we cannot make this happen. That is both sides, sometimes you just make the decision not to sign a player for this reason.”

Head coach Valerien Ismael says those who did make the move to Ewood Park this summer are fully bought into the club and believes it will stand them in good stead.

He smiled: “You have the experience over the years when you speak with players and after one minute, I wanted to say to Rudy, ‘I am going out of the Zoom call’.

“But that is why it is important to see the players, talk with them and get the feeling about them. All the players who are in wanted to come.

“We had some competition on some players but they took the decision to come to us. They wanted to be here, they believe in the path we showed for the players.

“That is why it is really good to stay connected, work together and take the decision.”