Rovers have boosted their youth ranks with the addition of 18-year-old attacking midfielder, Thomas Bloxham, who joins the Blues on a two-year-deal, until 2025, from Tottenham Hotspur, following his release from the London club.
Following in the footsteps of former Spurs attacker, Dilan Markanday, who swapped the capital for East Lancashire in January 2022, Bloxham pens his permanent contract at Ewood Park following a successful trial period which saw the attacking midfielder spend most of the 2022-23 campaign up north, playing for Rovers’ youth teams on a trial basis and will link up with the side’s under-21s team.
The attacking midfielder, who has represented both England and the Republic of Ireland at youth level, was a key part of Tottenham Hotspurs’ youth teams, having been with the club since the under-8s youth level. Despite clearly impressing the Rovers staff during his stint at Brockhall, it was back in 2020-21 where Bloxham first burst onto the scene, as he netted 11 goals and provided 14 assists in Spurs’ under-16 side.
After impressing in the youth categories, Bloxham was promoted to the under-18s, where he again showed his ability to succeed at a higher level, netting five and assisting one in 22 appearances for Spurs in the under-18s Premier League, alongside two in two in the FA Youth Cup, during 2021-22. Despite spending most of the second-half of 2022-23 with Rovers, Bloxham was still available for the Spurs side in the first-half of the season, where he netted just once, but assisted four in the seven games he played for the North London side, in all competitions. He was able to impress enough to earn some appearances with the under-19’s side, but failed to impact on his two appearances. The UEFA Youth League was also on Bloxham’s radar, as he cameoed in a victory over Olympique Marseille and a defeat to Sporting Lisbon.
Despite his career being in its infancy, Bloxham has earned international plaudits from both, The Three Lions and The Boys in Green, with caps from England’s under-15s – who he captained – and under-16s and under-17s under his belt, as well as some game time from the Republic of Ireland’s under-17s in European Championship qualifying & under-18s.
An under-18s Premier League cup winner, the youngster will see Rovers’ pathway to the first-team as an increasingly intriguing and motivational challenge, given the amount of academy talent that has broken through and had success in the first-team in recent years.
Welcome, Thomas!
