Duncan McGuire to return to Orlando City SC as Blackburn Rovers loan collapses

/ Taylor Williams

(Credit: Blackburn Rovers)

After an EFL Board meeting today, Duncan McGuire’s six-month loan move to Blackburn Rovers has now officially collapsed due to an ‘administrative error’ by the EFL Championship side. In other words, the move has fallen through because McGuire’s registration paperwork was submitted after England’s January transfer window deadline of 11pm back on Thursday, February 1. On Tuesday, Tom Bogert even went as far to tweet that Rovers only clicked “save” and not “submit paperwork” before the deadline in what is truly a farcical clerical error. Turning 23 on Monday, this has been no way to spend a birthday with McGuire now having to return to Orlando City SC with immediate effect.

This dramatic transfer saga peaked last Wednesday when McGuire took a flight to England, only for Rovers to call Orlando City SC and our striker’s agent to inform us that they were pulling out of a deal. McGuire then remained grounded in England as fellow suitors Sheffield Wednesday re-entered the race, only for Rovers to then remarkably re-enter negotiations themselves, finally announcing Duncan McGuire’s six-month loan arrival on social media at 23:02, minutes after the January transfer window deadline had passed.

Orlando City UK now understands that Blackburn will fly over to the United States over the coming weeks to try to conclude a pre-contract agreement with Orlando City SC, so that Duncan McGuire can officially become a Rovers player in the summer.

How Duncan McGuire’s transfer saga unfolded

A sad and sorry situation for Duncan McGuire

First of all, my immediate reaction to news of Duncan McGuire returning to Orlando City SC is one of astonishment and shock.

I would really like to offer a penny for the thoughts of Duncan McGuire – the human being – right now.

Can you believe that Monday was his 23rd birthday too?

Honestly, the Hollywood scriptwriters would’ve had a hard time matching the sheer drama, intensity, and downright craziness of this transfer saga!

In short, I feel very sorry for him that he won’t get to live out his dream of playing soccer in Europe – at least for the time being.

After the rigmarole of this tiresome week-long saga, it finally looked as if Ewood Park was going to be McGuire’s home for the next six months – and maybe beyond with Rovers having a purchase option of around $7 million, plus $2.5 million in add-ons,

When any player has travelled to a new country and is holding up the jersey of their new club, it’s usually done, right?

Not when it involves Blackburn Rovers, though!

McGuire would’ve had his eyes firmly fixed on getting acquainted to his new surroundings and making a strong first impression in his first experience outside America.

So to now have to return across the pond to Osceola Heritage Park with his tail between his legs is a very awkward situation for Duncan McGuire, his family, Rovers fans, and of course, us Orlando City SC supporters too.

Seemingly passed around like a piece of meat over the past week or so, Duncan McGuire’s whistle-stop tour of Northern England took him to Kenwood Park Hotel, Sheffield and Ewood Park, Blackburn – in the course of just one full day!

Right now, he must be feeling like the rug has been pulled from beneath him, big time.

It just seems crazy to us that with the amount of time contributed to scouting footballing talent in the first place, the journalistic reporting of club affairs, and of course, the thousands and millions of pounds / dollars plunged into transfer dealings, that a clerical error could derail McGuire’s deal so, so late in the day.

I mean, Duncan McGuire already had a Rovers squad number (#50) assigned, and had already been pictured posing with Rovers fans outside of Ewood Park prior to the club’s 1-2 home defeat to fellow EFL Championship strugglers QPR last Saturday.

Talk about a brutal gut-punch for the player!

Listening to Jon Dahl Tomasson’s post-match interview from the weekend, he intriguingly said: “What should I say about Duncan McGuire?

“The Duncan McGuire case. I am not allowed to speak about that case.

“You should ask Steve and Suhail about that case.

“I think you should ask Steve, Suhail and the ownership about the Duncan McGuire case.”

For me, these words cast doubt whether the Rovers head coach actually wanted McGuire in his squad in the first place, in contrast to the Rovers ownerships’ wishes.

Then again, you have to question just how much the Rovers ownership really wanted him as well.

Especially considering how careless they have been with getting his registration paperwork handled in a timely and professional manner.

As for Jon Dahl Tomasson himself, he is reportedly on the verge of quitting as Rovers head coach with John Eustace currently being touted as the Dane’s replacement.

Pretty messy, right?

And Rovers fans will tell that their club has been a mess for a while now.

After all, this isn’t the first time that Blackburn Rovers have cocked up a transfer deal in the recent past.

Alarmingly, in March 2023, LancsLive revealed how Lewis O’Brien’s January transfer from Nottingham Forest to Rovers fell through, much like McGuire’s.

In their article at the time, they commented that: “The move did not get over the line in time and parts of the paperwork were submitted after the 11pm deadline.”

Talk about history repeating itself!

Ironically, O’Brien then eventually ended up in MLS by joining Wayne Rooney’s D.C. United on loan.

With Rovers fans very outspoken about their feelings of the club’s mismanagement since Venky’s November 2010 takeover of the Lancashire side, the sentiment among many Blackburn supporters right now is that they are disappointed – but not surprised.

This tells you everything you need to know about the chaos that has seemingly reigned supreme at boardroom level for a long while now.

It’s just a real shame that our young talent Duncan McGuire got caught in the crossfire of such gross mismanagement.

Duncan McGuire’s re-integration back into Orlando City SC

An unprecedented situation for Orlando City SC to handle, it’s not ideal to have a wantaway player back in camp so soon.

As I tweeted last Friday, when a player’s head has been turned, it’s usually best to cash in or move them on for the good of the group.

You know, for squad harmony and everybody’s overall contentedness.

While it initially feels iffy having a wantaway player back in our squad so soon, this is probably not as big a deal as supporters may believe.

After all, only last Wednesday, Duncan McGuire was pictured with his Orlando City SC team-mates on a beach in Cancún during the club’s warm weather training camp.

This was just hours before departing Mexico on his now infamous transatlantic flight bound for Manchester.

Also revisiting the quotes from Orlando City SC’s initial press release regarding Duncan McGuire’s six-month loan, he was seemingly let go with the club’s best wishes.

After all, Luiz Muzzi said: “It has always been very important for our club to find and provide the best opportunities for players to continue making strides in their career, and this situation with Duncan was no different.

At the end of the day, we did right by the player – something that says a lot in modern-day football.

Don’t get me wrong; some trust will need to be re-earned on behalf of Duncan himself – someone who did reportedly reject a contract extension in Central Florida.

Nevertheless, this is likely to be a supporter and not a coaching staff or playing squad demand.

Having recently figured in Orlando City SC’s 1-1 draw with Flamengo in the FC Series 2024 back on January 27, McGuire was in a good enough frame of mind to start that game despite the whirlwind of transfer rumours that were speculating about his immediate future.

Perhaps Duncan McGuire’s Flamengo run-out was just to keep him sharp ahead of his agreed move to England?

But now, that match fitness was, in reality, preparation for the start of our 2024 MLS campaign, and not for the 17-game 2023/24 EFL Championship run-in as Rovers attempt to put some distance between themselves and the relegation zone.

And what of Luis Muriel’s impending arrival at Orlando City SC?

Just when it looked as if our reported move for Luis Muriel was going to have to wait until the summer when he becomes a free agent – amidst fellow interest from Inter Milan – Fabrizio Romano had some fantastic news for City supporters this week.

Prior to these bombshells, City supporters were of the mind that Duncan McGuire wouldn’t only be returning to Orlando City SC but thrust straight back into our starting eleven – which may still be the case of course.

After all, he scored 13 MLS goals for us last season.

But now, with news of Luis Muriel arriving too, Duncan McGuire will have around six months to learn from 32-year-old Muriel – a player nearly 10 years his senior – before, in all likelihood, securing a permanent transfer away from Inter&Co Stadium later this year.

Whether that’s to Blackburn Rovers or not remains to be seen.

Despite Rovers’ official club statement mentioning today that “Rovers will fly over to the United States over the coming weeks to try to conclude a pre-contract agreement with Orlando City”, you wonder whether we’ll actually ever want to conduct business with Rovers again following the fiasco of this past week!

A January transfer saga that few of us will forget, attention now turns to Oscar Pareja and the rest of the Orlando City SC coaching staff.

They will now need to use their best people management skills and compassion to get Duncan McGuire back in the right headspace to perform for Orlando City SC on the field.

At the end of the day, he’s our player and we need to do what’s right for the betterment of our club and our immediate best interests.

After all, it’s our 2024 mission to go deeper than ever before in the MLS Cup Playoffs and achieve that first MLS Cup title that we all desperately crave.

Amidst the Duncan McGuire transfer saga, and besides Luis Muriel’s impending arrival, there has been some other uplifting news for Orlando City SC supporters to grip onto.

Last Friday, Davide Masi and Tom Bogert both reported that Orlando City SC had reached an agreement to sign our top defensive transfer target David Brekalo from Viking Stavanger.

With Brekalo’s transfer officially announced by Orlando City SC earlier today, we now finally have our sought-after first choice replacement for the popular Antônio Carlos.

Before we sign off, did you know that there’s now only 13 days until we kick-off 2024 with our Round One (first leg) visit to Cavalry FC in the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup?

An exciting time of year that is full of renewed hope and expectation, it’s now time to embrace our immediate future with David Brekalo, Luis Muriel, AND Duncan McGuire all in it!

Exciting times, right?

What I do know right now is that Orlando City SC’s starting eleven is looking mighty strong and competitive – at least on paper!

Vamos Orlando!

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What have YOU made of the crazy transfer saga involving Duncan McGuire?

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