Championship manager confirms contract offer to Coventry City linked player…
Coventry City transfer news from CoventryLive as Blackburn Rovers skipper offered new deal amid Sky Blues interest.
Valerien Ismael has confirmed Blackburn Rovers have made a contract offer to Lewis Travis – but admits the club are in a difficult position of their own making.
Travis and Sondre Tronstad are both entering the final seasons of their current deals, with midfielder Travis currently linked with interest from Coventry City, Derby County and Wrexham.
The 27-year-old is Rovers’ captain and has been at the club for more than a decade with Ismael very keen to keep his skipper.
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While there have been no formal bids for Travis, three clubs have enquired – one of which is claimed to be Coventry – meaning Travis could either move in this window for a fee, or see out his last season and move next summer as a free agent.
“Yes, they (the club) made the offer,” Ismael told The Lancashire Telegraph.
“But at some point, the player has a choice to take or to leave it. We have to respect that if the player says, ‘No, I want to wait. What are my options till the end of the season?’ But once again, it’s not now.
“The offer we made to all the players, we are trying to chase something. It was one year ago, two years ago (it should have been done), to avoid that situation.
“So now our job is to be focused on the future and to make sure that the player we are signing will be very good for Blackburn Rovers.
“We must make sure we can secure a long contract and avoid putting those players or putting the club in those situations where you have to chase.
“A lot of players still have a one-year contract, and it put the club in a difficult situation. If you ask me personally, without the contract situation, I want them to stay. Callum Britain, Sonny Tronstad, Travis, they are very important players for me and for the club.
“But at some point, you have a situation with the contract. We are not the driver at the minute for the situation. The players are in a very good situation.
“They can stay if they want. But if the offer is coming and it is right for the club, and we have the possibility to move on and to take someone else, we will have to do that. These are the rules in football.
“Sonny wants to stay at the minute. So he didn’t come to us and say, ‘I want to leave’, or something like that.
“We know that if an offer is coming on the table with one year left, then we will have to talk.
“At the moment, it’s nothing. So we are working, and I’m very pleased to work with him. But it’s clear that you still have, until the September 1, something around your head that might change things.”
Travis has played the vast majority of his football as a defensive midfielder – an area that the Sky Blues are fairly well blessed at the moment with Matt Grimes and Ben Sheaf, unless the latter was to be sold.
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