SLAVEN BILIC could be set for a shock return to England almost three years after he left Watford.
The former West Ham player and boss has been out of work as a manager since August 2024 when he was sacked by Al-Fateh in Saudi Arabia.
Bilic, 57, got the boot at Watford five months earlier and hasn’t had a chance in the UK since.
He is now on Blackburn’s radar with Valerien Ismael under pressure, according to talkSPORT.
Ismael, 50, has failed to win any of his last nine in charge with Rovers losing five of those.
They have slumped to 22nd in the Championship, three points off West Brom but having played a game less.
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Ismael has been in charge at Ewood Park for just less than a year but has only won 11 of his 43 matches.
Results had picked up at the end of October after a poor start to the season but things have now flatlined.
Blackburn have failed to score in five of that nine-game winless run and were beaten 1-0 by high-flying Hull on Saturday.
Bilic hasn’t held a managerial position for 18 months since his year in the Middle East.
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He only lasted 36 games at Al-Fateh, leaving just days before the 2024-25 season started.
His stint at Watford was even shorter, 26 matches, with a spell at BK Guoan getting to a tiny 22.
He left the Chinese side during the Covid-19 pandemic having only spent three weeks out of management at the time following dismissal from West Brom.
Bilic is perhaps best known in England for his work at West Ham, where he oversaw 109 matches between 2015 and 2017.
In his first year he led the side to a seventh place finish before that dropped to 11th the season after.
Bilic was sacked with the team in 18th in 2017-18 amid struggles to make a new home at the Olympic Stadium.
The Croatian was the man who masterminded a thrilling final match at the Boleyn Ground (Upton Park) in 2016 against Manchester United on an emotional evening in east London.
Bilic also spent four years in England as a player, featuring over 50 times for West Ham and more than 30 at Everton.