Blackburn Rovers manager Tony Mowbray is still struggling to come to terms with why Namibian international Ryan Nyambe has not yet signed a new contract with the club, saying the young defender has a big future ahead at the Lancashire-based club.

In a podcast interview with www.lancs.live, Mowbray said after months of marathon negotiations, new offers and counter offers, the 24-year-old Nyambe is yet to agree to a new contract, and no indications have been forthcoming in terms of committing his future to the club.

Nyambe’s contract is set to come full circle next month, and that could see him leaving Rovers as a free agent, which is something that saddens his gaffer Mowbray. 

“I feel for him; I love him to bits. I’ve been with him for over five years; he’s like a son. What are you doing? I feel as though he needs to stay, and grow and learn – be better at bending that ball down the line, chipping it to the back stick, getting to the byline and cutting it back for the striker to tap it in. I just hope he’s making the right choices. I intimated on Ryan; I am not sure what he is doing right now,” said Mowbray, who shared that midfielder Joe Rothwell and defender Darragh Lenihan could also be on their way out.

Although the 58-year-old Mowbray is set to leave the club next month when his contract expires, he still hopes Nyambe will stay at the club, as that would be the best move for his personal development.

“There’s a sadness that I won’t be here to help, but I hope they make the right appointment and the club keeps moving in the right direction… Ryan has wonderful attributes and equally has big areas to develop and grow, but he has amazing attributes,” he told the www.lancs.live podcast.

The Namibian did not feature in either of Rovers’ last matches after being dropped for selection when it was confirmed that all out-of-contract players were unlikely to feature in coming matches.

“My hope is that they [Nyambe as well as Rothwell and Lenihan] stay at the club but they have suitors elsewhere.”

Rovers finished the 2021/22 season in eighth place with 69 points from a total of 48 matches overall – again losing out on promotion to the English Premier League. 

The England-based Nyambe has so far made nine appearances for the Brave Warriors since committing his international career to Namibian, with three appearances coming at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Egypt.

He is primarily a right-back, but he can also play at centre-back, a position which he often features in for Namibia and can be used at left-back.