Burnley must aim higher than 8-goal Championship striker this summer as transfer links re-emerge: Opinion | OneFootball

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Football League World

·6 June 2023

Burnley must aim higher than 8-goal Championship striker this summer as transfer links re-emerge: Opinion

Article image:Burnley must aim higher than 8-goal Championship striker this summer as transfer links re-emerge: Opinion

Vincent Kompany proved to be the mastermind in Burnley's immediate promotion back to the Premier League as his Clarets side romped to the Championship title with 101 points this past season.

He has also proven though that he's no ordinary head coach as he's welcomed back his squad in the first week of JUNE for pre-season, albeit it's more of a pre-pre-season as they will have another break before going into their proper summer campaign in a few weeks time.


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Their building has already begun in the transfer market as the signing of centre-back Jordan Beyer has been confirmed from Borussia Mönchengladbach after a successful loan spell at Turf Moor.

And the Daily Mail have claimed that they are back in the race for Queens Park Rangers target man Lyndon Dykes after being credited with an interest in the January transfer window.

What is the latest on Lyndon Dykes' situation at QPR?

Dykes is going into the final year of his contract at Loftus Road, having penned a four-year contract in 2020 when signing from Livingston, but despite the Hoops' best attempts to tie him down to a longer deal, it may all go to waste.

Football League World revealed last week that the two parties haven't come to an agreement on a new contract, and they are now willing to sell the Scotland international in a bid to recoup some funds before they potentially lose him on a free transfer next summer.

The Daily Mail, as mentioned, are claiming the Clarets are looking at Dykes again but so are Stoke City, Blackburn Rovers and Millwall - who had a £2 million bid rejected in January.

A Premier League move would of course tempt Dykes, but there's an argument ot be had that Burnley should look elsewhere.

Why should Burnley not pursue a move for Lyndon Dykes?

There is a clear reasoning as to why Dykes may be on Burnley's radar and why he may come into Kompany's thinking, and that's because of the impact that Ashley Barnes had at Turf Moor last season.

Barnes wouldn't be your idea of a typical go-to striker in Kompany's style of play, but he made things work, and he occupied defenders, giving the likes of Anass Zaroury and Manuel Benson among others the space to create magic.

That appears to be what Kompany wants yet again next season but perhaps a younger and upgraded model, although you'd be hard-pressed to say that Dykes is definitely better than Barnes.

Burnley definitely need a striker or two this summer - Jay Rodriguez spent much of the second half of the 2022-23 season injured and is now 33, Lyle Foster is still finding his feet after arriving from Westerlo in January and there will be doubts whether Michael Obafemi can cut it yet at Premier League level.

Dykes is another unknown - he's not a prolific goalscorer having scored just eight times in 39 league appearances for QPR this past season, but there's nothing to definitively say he cannot score goals in the Premier League.

However, Burnley are perhaps better going for someone up and coming, a little younger and perhaps someone who has experience in a top flight league somewhere in Europe to come in and fill Barnes' boots, because there are risks with Dykes, and he will likely not be able to live up to the billing.

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