By Nathan Drake
Burnley’s transfer business has been astute, with a total of 5 signings thus far.
This follows on from some key departures, namely, James Tarkowski, Ben Mee, and Nick Pope, amongst a few other rotational players.
"Turf moor - Club shop 2021" by Trappedinburnley, Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
First through the door was Scott Twine, a highly rated youngster from MK Dons. Twine had a stellar season last season, notching 20 goals and 13 assists in the league. A fee in the region of £4 million was spent by the Clarets to obtain his signature, and in my opinion, the best signing thus far.
Next to put pen to paper was Luke McNally, another highly regarded youngster from the league below. McNally is a fantastic ‘old school’ defender, who wins his headers and is dominant on the floor.
McNally and Twine were followed by CJ Egan-Riley, and as I’m sure you can already guess, he’s highly rated, and young! An initial fee of £400k with addon’s take the deal to the region of £750k. Egan-Riley hasn’t notched up a whole host of appearances in his short career, but was captain of City’s PL2 side, and you’d expect he will be playing second fiddle to Connor Roberts, with Matt Lowton expected to leave in search of regular first team football.
Taylor Harwood-Bellis was signing number 4 just a few days afterwards. The 20 year old joined on loan from Manchester City, and is making his 4th loan move after stints at Blackburn Rovers, Vincent Kompany’s Anderlecht and Stoke City. Harwood-Bellis brings nearly 100 game of senior experience, as well as 39 appearances across the age groups for England. Harwood-Bellis is expected to be the natural partner to Nathan Collins, with Luke McNally expected to use this season to develop.
Finally, Samuel Bastian linked up with Vincent Kompany just a few days ago. A highly sought after midfielder who, pre-injury, was wanted by Manchester United and West Ham joined for a few in the region of around £600k. Samuel Muleka was expected to be joining his ex-teammate but has now chosen Besiktas.
The Clarets are expecting bids for Nathan Collins and Maxwell Cornet before the end of the window, both of which they will wish to keep hold of, dearly. Meanwhile Wout Weghorst has sealed a 1 year loan deal to join Jackson Muleka at Besiktas.
Wayne Hennessey is also expected to complete a move away within the next few days, with newly-promoted Nottingham Forest believed to have secured his signature.
Overall, the business has been fantastic, on paper. Whether the team can gel, with a few extra signings expected before the Clarets trip to Huddersfield at the end of the month, remains to be seen.
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