Burnley FC: Past Vincent Kompany success should drive ambition to land 22-year-old | OneFootball

Burnley's past success in the Belgian market should spur them on to make a Jacob Ondrejka move

Things are going swimmingly on the pitch of late for Burnley, but off the pitch, they've got the January transfer window to contend with this month.

Fortunately for the Clarets, they're not in a desperate position where they have to sell, and the fact they could well be playing in the Premier League next season means that they're in a relatively strong position to attract players.

Ultimately, the main focus of this window is on attracting players to come rather than moving their better ones on, and Royal Antwerp winger Jacob Ondrejka is one name who's been linked with making the switch to Turf Moor.

Burnley are relatively well-stocked in the wide areas, but could probably make room for one more winger as some of their options out wide either haven't been performing or have spent most of the season on the sidelines.

The Belgian market is one Burnley are used to exploring, having dipped their toe into it on several occasions under Vincent Kompany, so it's one they will feel they have a good knowledge of.

When Kompany first came into the club, himself arriving from the Belgian Pro League, he brought with him an encyclopedic knowledge of the Belgian market, and that was something which the club leaned heavily on in the early stages of his reign.

Manuel Benson, Anass Zaroury, Josh Cullen, Vitinho, Ameen Al Dakhil, Lyle Foster and Samuel Bastien were all signed from Belgian clubs in Kompany's first season in charge, and most of those proved key figures in Burnley's promotion.

Benson and Zaroury are the two standout comparisons with Ondrejka as they both also play on the wing, and while their Turf Moor careers nosedived after promotion, it's fair to say the pair set the Championship alight when they played in the second tier.

On their day, the pair were near unplayable and were at the heart of everything good about Burnley, which the club are undoubtedly looking to replicate with Ondrejka.

The pair were both ultimately roaring successes in getting Burnley to where they needed to be, and if Ondrejka comes in and has the same kind of impact, then his addition would certainly be a shrewd one.

For every Manuel Benson and Anass Zaroury, there's a Mike Tresor

Burnley's next wide signing from the Belgian Pro League wasn't quite as successful, as Mike Tresor singed in from Genk and turned out to be a complete flop.

The Clarets spent the best part of £16m to land Tresor, and while any fee for Ondrejka is highly unlikely to be anywhere near that kind of figure, his failure to make the grade in English football could be at the back of their minds when deciding whether to do a deal or not.

The positives Burnley have attained from entering the Belgian market have far outweighed the negatives though, so this one poor deal shouldn't affect a potential deal for the Antwerp man.

Since Zaroury left, and Benson has been injured, Burnley fans have lacked that bit of excitement in the final third, and if Ondrejka is anywhere near as successful as the other two names were at this level, then he will almost certainly boost the Clarets' promotion hopes.