Whethter it’s discussing his time on the pitch, his role in the side, or his future, Danny Graham is used to being a talking point among supporters.

The latest chapter in that particular area has been opened with the striker’s current contract up for renewal.

While he may be coming up 35, his fitness record over the course of the last three seasons has been unrivalled. Graham has come back to Brockhall after two months looking fit and strong, and ready to play his part in the remaining nine matches.

His involvement in the matchday squad against Derby County last time out was his 100th consecutive appearance on a Rovers team-sheet having not missed a game since the 2-0 win over Bradford City in March 2018.

Infact, that is in fact the only  game he’s missed since April 2017, when he suffered his last real injury worry, undergoing a minor operation on his groin.

So while his number of starts may have reduced, his appearance record is impressive. Of Rovers’ last 83 matches, he’s featured, at some stage, in all but 10 of them. But while his 43 Championship appearances last season predominantly came from the start (36) it’s been an impact substitute role this term, with 19 of his 30 appearances coming off the bench.

Graham is no stranger to his future being in the headlines. He had it when he first arrived at the club on loan from Sunderland in January 2016, soon fielding questions about the likelihood of a permanent stay.

Then, after Rovers were relegated in the 2016/17 campaign, in which he finished as joint-top scorer, it was expected the experienced frontman would be among those to move on.

He stayed, overcoming a sticky start to the season when many thought it was the beginning of the end of his Rovers career, to score 17 goals as his partnership with Bradley Dack proved a key facet in securing an immediate return to the Championship, and with it, another new deal.

Interestingly, that was a one-year contract, with the option of a further 12 months, based upon appearances. Mowbray has always maintained a hungry Danny Graham, with a point to prove, is the best kind. He responded again, and even before the calendar year was out, triggered his extension that was agreed in January 2019.

Graham will undoubtedly end this season with Rovers, the club having to let him know of their intentions by June 23, but what goes beyond that is still unclear.

The striker has made no secret of his desire to stay, in a recent interview declaring he would ‘100 per cent’ sign a new contract. On numerous occasions he’s expressed his love for the club, and made known he would be happy to see out the remainder of his career at Ewood Park.

There was the offer of a switch to Australia last year, a lucrative one at that, and for two years, which prompted Mowbray to make Graham aware, one he quickly batted away.

If history has told us anything, it’s that Rovers, under Mowbray, very rarely cut ties with a player immediately. Their retained list often leaves things hanging in the balance, as we’ve seen with Craig Conway and Jack Rodwell in the past.

So it may well be open-ended, and a discussion that runs on for some time.

However, the landscape has now changed. This isn’t your ordinary summer where a previously out-of-contract player may want to survey his options to see what’s out there. Equally, clubs won’t be awash with cash to spend on new players.

Rovers have tried for the last two summer windows to find competition, and subsequent long-term replacement, for Graham. In doing so, they have splashed out £11m on first Ben Brereton, and then Sam Gallagher.

Mowbray now views Graham as something of a Plan B, but he’s a better player than being thrown on for 20 minutes in an SOS call as Rovers chase a goal late in games.

His goal record won’t have been what he will have wanted this season, just three in all, but he’s still very much a nuisance to the opposition when he’s on the pitch.

Given the investment made, Rovers need the deals for both Gallagher and Brereton to work. Adam Armstrong has taken the heat off the pair with his impressive campaign, scoring 12 times, while Bradley Dack was well on course to reach double figures yet again before injury cruelly struck in December.

His injury has coincided with Graham playing just 280 minutes in 14 league games, but with the 26-year-old likely to come back in to the fold by the end of the year, Rovers look well stocked in the attacking ranks.

While a winger will be on the summer wishlist, the main priorities for Rovers will come at the other end of the pitch. 

They will undoubtedly need one new goalkeeper, possibly two with Jayson Leutwiler’s contract coming to an end, at least one, probably two, central defenders, and likely a left back as well.

A new striker will likely be well down the pecking order. 

With all things considered, another season of Danny Graham would certainly interest, but probably benefit, all parties.