Ash Phillips looked all set for a move to Spurs, but Rovers have moved the goalposts to put a deal in doubt
The Ash Phillips saga continues to rumble on at Ewood Park as Blackburn Rovers play hard-ball over the England youth international’s future.
The current financial situation at Rovers was escalated last weekend when it was revealed by The Mirror that head coach Jon Dahl Tomasson was considering quitting over a slashing of the budget.
It was claimed that a freeze had been put on new signings – even freebies or loans – due to budget constraints relating to club owners the Venkys being advised by the Indian government to cut their overseas investment, including at Rovers.
Chief executive Steve Waggott confirmed the situation at a Fans’ Forum earlier in the week and it has always been thought that Rovers would need to sell players in order to spend money on transfer fees this summer.
Their current business of signing Sondre Tronstad, Niall Ennis and Arnor Sigurdsson haven’t involved transfer fees but there was the expectation that the sale of Phillips could open the door up for Tomasson to add more players to his squad.
Earlier this week, multiple outlets reported that a £3 million fee had been agreed for the 18-year-old, who has played 14 times for Rovers at senior level and has captained England at under-18 level, and it owed to a release clause in his contract.
However, Alan Nixon claimed a few days ago that the deal was on the verge of collapse and that Rovers were disputing the wording of the clause in his deal, meaning that they could demand a much higher fee than the initial £2 million plus add-ons that other clubs were told they would have to pay.
What is the latest on Ash Phillips’ Blackburn Rovers situation involving Tottenham?
And it has now emerged that it will take a much higher fee to prize Phillips away from Ewood Park.
According to a report from Nixon in The Sun, the Blackburn hierarchy want an initial £5 million from Spurs – but that is just the start.
Rovers then want another £1.5 million in appearance clauses which would take Phillips up from his first-team debut at Ange Postecoglou’s side until his 80th appearance, and then ‘£250,000 in the first two seasons he starts more than half of Spurs’ Premier League games – plus a further £250,000 for two seasons if the club qualifies for Europe and he plays in 50 per cent of the matches’.
Then, if Tottenham were ever to win the Premier League or the Champions League with Phillips in the first-team squad then Blackburn want another £500,000, with another £1.45 million added in terms of England appearances, both for the under-21’s and then more significantly the senior setup for the Three Lions.
Should every single clause be met then Phillips would cost £9.45 million in the end, with Rovers also demanding a 17.5 per cent sell-on clause for the talented teen defender as well.
Should Blackburn Rovers cash in on Ash Phillips?
With Dom Hyam and Hayden Carter ahead of him in the pecking order as well as Scott Wharton, Phillips wouldn’t be a huge loss to Rovers in the current scheme of things.
However, given his obvious potential, in a couple of years’ time he could be ready to start Championship matches week in, week out, and we’ve already seen glimpses of that talent.
Phillips has captained Blackburn’s under-21’s at a very young age and he’s clearly highly rated by many, but if Blackburn really need the money right now then they should perhaps take it considering they have more than capable defenders at the club already.
It’s never nice to see a homegrown player move on to a bigger club and league before really making an impact, but in this case Rovers probably couldn’t turn down that money should Spurs come back and agree to the framework.
