With England’s January transfer window deadline having just closed at 11pm (GMT), Orlando City SC have now announced that Duncan McGuire has joined EFL Championship side Blackburn Rovers on a six-month loan. With Tom Bogert confirming that the loan fee is worth $700,000 with a purchase option of around $7 million, plus $2.5 million in add-ons, McGuire’s move across the pond comes after he reportedly rejected a contract extension in Central Florida. This alone is merely half the story however!
A high drama situation that has been unravelling all week, Blackburn looked all set to wrap up the deal yesterday. However, despite McGuire flying to England on Wednesday to seal his transfer to Ewood Park, Rovers then pulled out of a rumoured $4 million deal for the recently capped USMNT striker at the eleventh hour due to ‘financial reasons’. This not only left McGuire – on his transatlantic flight at the time – in limbo but also the Orlando City SC Front Office and City supporters who all faced an unprecedented transfer saga, or should we say soap opera, that has truly had supporters, journalists, and pundits transfixed since last weekend. News of the Blackburn deal collapsing then alerted McGuire’s other suitors Sheffield Wednesday with the striker spotted at Kenwood Park Hotel in Sheffield this morning.
Are you still following? From here, after cheekily attempting to hijack Orlando City SC’s move for David Brekalo, Blackburn remarkably re-entered negotiations for Duncan McGuire, and at 4:15pm this afternoon, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano put everybody out of their misery by tweeting that McGuire was “on his way to Blackburn to sign on loan with an option to buy clause.”
A saga that has had more twists and turns than the VelociCoaster at Universal Islands of Adventure, it’s been one of the craziest weeks in Orlando City SC‘s MLS history. With Duncan McGuire joining Rovers on loan until July, City must now wait to cash in on the 22-year-old with the start of our 2024 campaign looming large. A shock for some and an inevitability for others, City have now been forced back into the transfer market to find a starting centre forward replacement for the recently capped USMNT striker with Colombian international Luis Muriel looking the most likely candidate as we speak. Continue reading
