Burnley ready to pay eight-figure fee for 24-goal forward but face competition from Wolves | OneFootball

In just a couple of months time, Burnley will make their return to the top flight of English football after storming their way to the Championship title, and their transfer business is already underway with the permanent addition of Jordan Beyer.

If there's one area that perhaps really needs to be strengthened though before the start of the 2023-24 season though then it is up-front, with the likes of Lyle Foster and Michael Obafemi not guaranteed to fire goals in at Premier League level.

A number of forwards have already been linked but their interest in Georgia international striker Georges Mikautadze will seemingly not go away, having first been touted to his signature back in the summer of 2022, and they are now seemingly back in the race.

Who is Georges Mikautadze?

Mikautadze is a goalscorer who has his best years ahead of him, having come through the Metz B team as a teenager.

The Georgian found his feet in Belgium however with a two-year loan spell at Seraing, first heading to the second tier of Belgian football and winning promotion with the Liege-based club, scoring 19 times in 21 league matches.

Mikautadze followed that up in the top flight of the Belgian Pro League for the same club with another 14 goals in 33 appearances in all competitions, and it was that form that put him on Vincent Kompany's radar last summer.

Burnley were unable to get a deal done however, and instead he has scored goals for fun in Ligue 2 for Metz, as going into the final match of the regular season he has plundered 23 goals in 36 league outings.

And whether he wins promotion to Ligue 1 or not with Metz, it's likely that the 14-cap international will be departing for around a club-record fee.

How much will Georges Mikautadze cost if he moves to Burnley?

According to a report from French publication Le10 Sport, Mikautadze has a €20 million (£17.2 million) price-tag on his head after his exploits in the 2022-23 season, but some clubs are not willing to pay that price.

Lyon are one of those who have baulked at that figure although they remain keen on a player who was born in the city and spent seven years in their academy system, but that figure won't be an issue for Burnley.

The article claims that the Clarets are willing to pay Metz's asking price this summer, but so are their Premier League rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers, who are in the market for new forwards after their options in the 2022-23 season failed to fire.