Burnley face battle to land transfer target as European outfit emerge as frontrunners | OneFootball

Valencia are leading the race to sign Burnley target Lucas Assadi from Universidad de Chile in the January window.

It had been claimed that the 18-year-old attacker was on the radar of the Clarets, along with the Spanish outfit and Portuguese giants Benfica.

Of course, landing Assadi ahead of clubs of that calibre was always going to be tough and that has proven to be the case, as a report from El Desmarque has stated that Valencia are emerging as the frontrunners.

They believe the chance to move to La Liga will be a relatively easy shift for the player, as he won’t need to learn a new language as he tries to settle in.

As well as that, with a €2m release clause in his contract, it’s not going to be much of a problem for any interested club to pay a fee for Assadi.

Vincent Kompany is going to want to strengthen his squad in the New Year, even though he has enjoyed a brilliant start to life in charge at Turf Moor. His side lead the way in the Championship after 22 games and hold an eight-point lead over third place.

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The verdict

This is a shame for Burnley as Assadi would have been an exciting addition as he is a young player who is clearly talented and has the potential to improve.

However, you can see why Valencia appeal to the youngster and it was always going to be hard to convince the attacker to move to England when they were interested.

Given how Burnley have recruited under the new boss though, fans will trust them to get it right in terms of whoever does arrive next month.