Blackburn Rovers are fighting to keep one of their finest players ahead of Monday’s transfer deadline, after a top-flight European club rejected an offer.

Valerien Ismael’s side is in a Championship relegation battle with a few months left in the season, and the last thing he wants is to lose one of his key players with only two days till the window closes.

While the Frenchman wants to strengthen his attacking unit, with Bailey Cadamarteri, Dapo Afolayan, and Tawanda Maswanhise all linked with Ewood Park, one team set to benefit from a windfall is hoping to reinvest by signing a Rovers defender.

Blackburn Rovers vote down Ryan Alebiosu’s bid from Genoa.

According to Pete O’Rourke, Ryan Alebiosu, one of Blackburn’s top performers from the 2025-26 season so far, has received a transfer offer from Serie A club Genoa.

Genoa, who lost 3-2 to Lazio on Friday night, are looking for a replacement for ex-Arsenal defender Brooke Norton-Cuffy, who is close to joining Inter Milan after advanced talks.

Alebiosu has already been lined up as Norton-Cuffy’s replacement, with Genoa submitting a €5 million (£4.3 million) bid for the recently capped Nigeria international, who earned his Super Eagles debut at the African Cup of Nations.

Blackburn, on the other hand, turned down Genoa’s initial attempts for the 24-year-old, who only moved to Lancashire from Belgian club Kortrijk in the summer for a fee in the region of £500,000, according to the Lancashire Telegraph, and signed a three-year contract at Ewood Park.

Rovers could possibly earn a significant profit on Alebiosu before Monday’s deadline, with ESPN reporting earlier in the window that Everton, Wolfsburg, Sassuolo, and Genoa were all interested in signing the Arsenal academy graduate.

Blackburn Rovers risk fan outrage if Ryan Alebiosu goes.

Tensions have already been growing on the terraces at Ewood Park this month, with Blackburn fans disgruntled with the club’s administration beyond Ismael, directing their ire at Rudy Gestede and Suhail Pasha, the Venky’s representative in the UK.

And, while the team is still looking to enhance its offense, losing probably their best player this season in Alebiosu would be disastrous, even if it meant generating a huge profit.

With Rovers in a relegation battle and fighting for Championship survival, losing Alebiosu this late in the window would be extremely unpopular with the fans – but could they be compelled to accept larger offers?