Burnley agree fee for Oxford United defender: The verdict | OneFootball

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Football League World

·26 June 2022

Burnley agree fee for Oxford United defender: The verdict

Article image:Burnley agree fee for Oxford United defender: The verdict

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Burnley have agreed a £1.6 million fee with Oxford United for Luke McNally, according to Football Insider.


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The Irishman was an important figure for the U’s last season, but now looks set to take the step up to the Championship with the Clarets.

Here we ask our FLW writers their verdict on whether the defender will be a good addition to Vincent Kompany’s side…

Adam Jones

Scoring four goals and recording one assist last season, McNally has shown he can contribute in the final third as well as defensively, making him a good player to have at Turf Moor.

It may be quite a jump for him to make considering Vincent Kompany’s side are likely to be pushing for promotion next term – but he played with some very high-calibre players last season including Mark Sykes and Cameron Brannagan.

Quiz: Can you name which club these 27 ex-Burnley players are playing for now?

He may not be a starter straight away – but depth is needed at centre-back and he could be a great backup option to have at first before he potentially forces his way into the first 11.

Competition is needed to maximise performance levels, so this can only be a good signing.

Toby Wilding

This does look as though it could be a rather good signing for Burnley going forward.

With James Tarkowski and Ben Mee on the move, and Nathan Collins seemingly attracting plenty of interest from elsewhere, the Clarets do need to add to their options in the centre of defence.

In McNally, they are getting someone who can help fill the voids that have been left in that role, and while this would be a big step up, at 22-years-old there is plenty of time for him to adapt and become an asset at this level.

A fee of £1.6million also looks to be easily afordable for Burnley given the funds they will have built up during their time in the Premier League, meaning this could be a useful piece of business from the club.

Justin Peach

This would be a brilliant signing for Burnley as it marks a much needed change in direction for the Clarets.

For a long time, Burnley relied upon season pro’s who you could argue were quite limited in their technical ability and most transfers under Sean Dyche were without any risk to the club.

This deal for McNally gives Burnley a defender who is comfortable with the ball at his feet as well as being a reliable defender. Karl Robinson has continuously coached good, progressive ball playing defenders and McNally is the latest in a long line.

What he will give to Burnley is an opportunity to build from the back and start attacks at different stages in the game, rather than relying on playing long balls into channels.

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