Former Colchester United youngster Sammie Szmodics joins Blackburn Rovers

The 26-year-old has left League One side Peterborough United to join Rovers on a three-year deal, for an undisclosed fee.

Szmodics has signed a contract at Ewood Park through to 2025, which includes a 12-month option in the club's favour.

✍️ We are delighted to announce our second signing of the day, with the permanent arrival of Peterborough United’s Sammie Szmodics for an undisclosed fee.

Welcome @SamSzmodics!#SammieSigns | #Rovers 🔵⚪️

— Blackburn Rovers (@Rovers) August 1, 2022

Szmodics told RoversTV: “I’m over the moon and it’s something that’s been in the pipeline for a while now.

“I’ve driven up today, we’ve got everything finalised and I’m really looking forward to getting started.

“It’s been a case of the deal happening and then not happening, but we got the call last night saying everything had been finalised.

“It’s a massive club. I played against Rovers twice last season for Peterborough and played at Ewood Park.

“This is a fantastic club with a fantastic fanbase, it’s something that any player would want to be a part of.

“Once I heard of the interest I was desperate to get the deal done due to the history of the club, the size of the club and the fanbase.

“It was something that I could not turn down.

“If you ask any player, they know about Blackburn Rovers and the history of the club."

🗣️ "𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩!"

📺 @SamSzmodics talks to RoversTV after being unveiled as our latest signing.#Rovers 🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/5I1Of6OrJE

— Blackburn Rovers (@Rovers) August 1, 2022

Szmodics scored a total of 40 times in 165 appearances for his home town club Colchester, between 2013 and 2019.

The former Stanway School pupil twice finished as the U's top scorer during his time at the JobServe Community Stadium.

Szmodics ended his 16-year association with the U's when he joined Championship side Bristol City in the summer of 2019.

The former U's academy product joined Peterborough on a four-year deal from the Robins in September 2020, having previously been on loan at Posh.

💙 Thank you for everything @SamSzmodics.#pufc pic.twitter.com/UFTia4Ycwu

— Peterborough United (@theposh) August 1, 2022

Szmodics made 86 league and cup appearances for Posh, scoring 23 times.

Rovers’ Director of Football, Gregg Broughton, said: “We identified that we needed to add both athleticism and another goal threat to the squad, and Sammie gives us both of these qualities.

“When he was played centrally for the final ten Championship games of last season, we saw Sammie recreate his form from League One, with four goals and an assist, along with both the creative and physical metrics of an attacking midfielder who will add a different dimension to our group.

“As importantly, we know what Sammie will bring as a character and how easily he will fit into the great team spirit and mentality of our players.”