WITH the announcement of Blackburn Rovers’ retained list there is now a clearer picture developing of how many signings Gary Bowyer will be able to make in the summer.

Under the terms of the club’s embargo for failing Financial Fair Play, the Rovers boss will only be able to bring new recruits in on loan and on free transfers.

The embargo also means Bowyer’s squad can contain no more than 24 established players. 

For the purposes of next season, established players will be those aged 21 or above on June 30 who have made at least five first-team starts.

Rovers currently have 20 established players under contract for next season. 

They are Adam Henley, Tommy Spurr, Matt Kilgallon, Grant Hanley, Jason Lowe, Chris Brown, Tom Cairney, Jordan Rhodes, Ben Marshall, Simon Eastwood, Markus Olsson, Lee Williamson, Shane Duffy, Corry Evans, Jason Steele, Craig Conway, Rudy Gestede, Josh Morris, Leon Best and Jake Kean.

Three of those are goalkeepers, in Eastwood, Steele and Kean.

But with David Raya now considered a first-team member and, crucially, not an established player for another two seasons at least – he does not turn 21 until September next year – then there is every possibility the club will look to move Kean on. 

The keeper is no longer considered part of Bowyer’s plans.

And the same most certainly applies to Best.

The striker has not pulled on a Rovers shirt since October 2013 and in the last 18 months has been farmed out on loan to Championship rivals Sheffield Wednesday, Derby County and Brighton.

Both Best and Kean have 12 months left on their current contracts.

But if Rovers can find new homes for the pair – or, more realistically, pay them off – that would reduce the club’s number of established players to 18 and give Bowyer more room to manoeuvre in the market.

But that figure is as likely to increase as it is to decrease.

Josh King and Chris Taylor are out of contract yet Bowyer is determined to retain the services of both.

Striker King is currently considering the fresh terms put to him by Rovers and, while midfielder Taylor has yet to be made a formal offer, one should follow.

Luke Varney, like Taylor, is now free to talk to other clubs.

Rovers have not completely closed the door on Varney signing a new deal.

But if the veteran striker was to be offered a contract it would almost certainly have to be on reduced terms after he ruptured his Achilles tendon while playing on loan for Ipswich Town.

And even if Varney was to remain at Rovers, he would not yet be considered an established player.  That is because the 32-year-old has made only four first-team starts for the club. 

Youngsters Darragh Lenihan and John O’Sullivan are in a similar position. 

Both are now over the age of 21 and will therefore become established when they make the requisite number of first-team starts.

Lenihan is on two starts for Rovers, O’Sullivan is on one.

In contrast any new signings Rovers make will be considered established players, regardless of age.

Bowyer has been linked with Manchester City’s Seko Fofana, who does not turn 21 until May next year.

But if the midfielder was to join Rovers, he would become an established player under the rules of the club’s embargo.

It is going to be a long – and complex – summer.