Burnley's No1 priority is clear as West Ham and Wolves circle: View | OneFootball

The clock is ticking on Josh Brownhill's Burnley stay, but the Clarets should be doing everything to keep him

Amidst a fine start to the season that sees them amongst the early pacesetters, all seems rosy at Turf Moor, but Burnley have a glaring contractual issue to sort off the pitch.

Having already dished out new deals to supposed wantaway star Luca Koleosho, defensive stalwart Maxime Estève and midfield dynamo Josh Cullen, his partner in the middle of the park, Josh Brownhill, will surely be the next man Burnley need to tie down.

With less than a year left on his deal, time is ticking on Brownhill’s stay in the North West, and amidst rumoured Premier League interest from West Ham and Wolves, as per TEAMtalk, he clearly has suitors elsewhere should the Clarets fail to tie him down.

Running his deal down, Brownhill's situation has alerted the Hammers and Wolves amongst others, with West Ham in particular proving over the last few years they're willing to dip into the EFL to recruit players, signing high-profile Championship stars Crysencio Summerville from Leeds United and Jarrod Bowen at Hull City - a player they've turned into an England internal and West Ham captain.

Wolves themselves were reportedly keen to add Brownhill in the summer but elected to recruit Tommy Doyle permanently in his position instead. But as Doyle himself played in the Championship the season before he moved to Molineux on loan, it's evident that the Wolves recruitment team are happy to shop in the Championship.

Burnley worked themselves a short stay of execution to fend off Brownhill’s top-flight suitors by triggering an extension to keep him at the club for this season, but with no resolution seemingly on the horizon, a huge question mark lingers over the Warrington-born man’s future.

What does Brownhill bring?

In short, energy, the likes of which few else in the Burnley squad can bring. Never has he been the go-to man as far as manipulating possession goes, but when it comes to winning the ball back and putting your body on the line, few can compare.

There had been question marks over where he would fit into Scott Parker’s system, but he’s slotted effortlessly into the ‘number eight’ role - a position in which he thrives.

With endless energy to affect both boxes, Brownhill typifies the modern day ‘number eight’ and looks to have come into his own in Parker’s preferred 4-2-3-1 system, with the freedom to get forward knowing Josh Laurent or Josh Cullen alongside him are doing the heavy lifting in possession.

His commitment to the cause is unquestionable - as he again proved against Leeds on Saturday - when he put his body on the line to beat Joe Rodon to a header in the dying moments - one which drew stitches. But it’s those sort of moments why Burnley fans have grown to love him.

Brownhill’s move to Burnley from Bristol City

Signed from Bristol City by Sean Dyche in January 2020, Brownhill is currently amongst the longest-serving players at the club.

He’s played 111 times for Burnley in the Premier League, which represents phenomenal value for money on their reported £9 million investment.

He’s also single-handedly responsible for the one moment where the entire Burnley fanbase believed they would pull off the great escape back in 2022, when he struck away at Watford to complete the turnaround in a 2-1 victory - one that a portion of Burnley fans of a certain age would undoubtedly rank in their top away day moments.

Not only those top-flight appearances, Brownhill was a mainstay in the Clarets’ Championship title-winning season under Vincent Kompany, racking up 15 G/A across the season, and as vice captain he was given the honour to jointly lift the trophy after a final day victory against Cardiff.

He’s since assumed the role of club captain in the wake of Jack Cork’s departure, and at the heart of several initiatives to support the local area since he moved to the club, most Burnley fans would simply acknowledge that he gets what the club is about.

Club captain, he gets the club, and he’s coming into his own on the pitch - Burnley must do everything in their power to tie Brownhill down to a new deal.