Burnley manager Sean Dyche is increasingly confident that the club can retain its most prized assets in the summer transfer window, even though he has stressed the importance of “balance” on the market.
Having previously stated that he expected Dwight McNeil to move on amid reported transfer interest from Manchester United, the Clarets boss now seems more hopeful of keeping hold of key players at Turf Moor.
As per Lancashire Live, Dyche said about the chances of keeping Burnley’s best players: “As confident as ever. We have changed as a club and are financially in very good shape. We can make sure we can safeguard as many situations as possible but equally the club has sold players in the past and if a player is sold that will be part of the balance.
“The balance is investing in the right players and at some point players being sold. There is a balance to the finance but I know we are in good shape as a club but all the details are for the chief exec and the chairman to talk about.”
Burnley have previously been raided for some of their most valuable players, with Danny Ings being lured by Liverpool in 2015 for £8m and Andre Gray being sold to Watford for £18.5m two years later.
The difference now is that the Clarets are an established Premier League club, having bounced between the top two divisions during the middle of the previous decade and being relegated in the year that Ings left for Merseyside. After four unbroken years of top-flight football (and a fifth on its way next term), Turf Moor is now a settled Premier League venue.
Aside from McNeil, Dyche could also expect a degree of transfer interest in the likes of Nick Pope and James Tarkowski, both of whom deserve England call-ups in the eyes of the Burnley manager (as per Sky Sports). Indeed, the goalkeeper is on course to win the Premier League Golden Glove for 2019/20, having kept 15 clean sheets already this term (as per premierleague.com).
Previous years have shown that Burnley can comfortably withstand the loss of a key player by reinvesting in the rest of the squad – they won the Championship in the year after Ings’ departure and qualified for Europe in the season following Gray’s move to Watford.
Therefore, it is quite plausible that they could remain a top-half club even if they sell the likes of McNeil and Pope, provided that the sum received for them is wisely reinvested.
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However, now that Burnley are an established Premier League side, perhaps the Clarets’ leading lights may be happy to remain at Turf Moor rather than readily jumping ship elsewhere.
Burnley fans, can the Clarets keep hold of their key players this summer? Comment below with your views!
