'Ridiculous offer' from Premier League club set to prize Championship hotshot Adam Armstrong from Blackburn

Blackburn Rovers boss Tony Mowbray hopes a Premier League club tables a “ridiculous” offer for striker Adam Armstrong this summer.

The 24-year-old netted his third hat-trick of the season in Rovers’ 5-2 win against Birmingham City on Saturday – making it 28 goals in total for the former England Under-20 star.

His final tally put him second in the Championship goalscoring charts – three behind Brentford’s Ivan Toney.

Toney could still end up playing in the Premier League, with Brentford now readying themselves for the play-offs, but Armstrong must wait for a top flight coming in for him this summer if he is to make the step up.

Mowbray himself said he wouldn’t stand in Armstrong’s way if a move to the top-flight becomes a possibility – and hopes Rovers receive a “ridiculous” offer for the player who is out of contract next summer.

“They (Premier League clubs) are not doing their job if they’re not looking at Adam Armstrong,” Mowbray said.

“That’s out of my control. For Adam’s sake, let’s hope the phone rings and someone offers us a ridiculous amount of money, we shake him by the hand and we say go and bang in loads of goals in the Premier League and we’ll use some of that money in the team and can find another striker who can bang loads of goals in.

“That’s football, that’s happened since the game started. He’s shown what a talent he is, he could have had five today, my analyst is saying the first one wasn’t offside, but there you go.

“There are a few players out there at the end who won’t be here next season but that’s okay, every team has to evolve and grow and develop and young players will get more experience and see whether they can hit the mark and take us where we want to go.”

Armstrong graduated at boyhood club Newcastle United before he was sold to Blackburn in 2018 for £1.75million.

United will watch Armstrong’s impending transfer saga with a keen eye. It is understood Steve Bruce’s side will receive 40% of any potential future fee – similar to the deal they have in place with Brentford for Toney, another ex-Magpie.