“Can really test himself” – Burnley fan pundit speaks out on late-window departure | OneFootball

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Football League World

·1 February 2023

“Can really test himself” – Burnley fan pundit speaks out on late-window departure

Article image:“Can really test himself” – Burnley fan pundit speaks out on late-window departure

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

CJ Egan-Riley made his debut for Hibernian from the bench in their 1-1 draw at Ross County on Tuesday evening, having completed a loan move from Burnley on Monday.


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The 20-year-old, who has made two Carabao Cup starts along with four other substitute appearances this season, has joined up with Lee Johnson’s men until the end of the season.

Egan-Riley was an intriguing early summer addition from Manchester City, given Vincent Kompany’s background, but, alongside Luke McNally, it would seem that the England youth international is more of a development project than anything else.

FLW’s Burnley fan pundit Ben Livingstone believes that Hibs is a great choice of loan destination from the club.

Speaking to Football League World, Livingstone said“CJ Egan-Riley to Hibernian is a really good move for him.

“You look at the SPL and the top few teams are easily Championship, high Championship, or low-end Premier League quality, so he can really test himself against some of the better teams.

“Whilst also developing against the teams that are below him and Hibernian.

“He’s going to start for them because I don’t think their centre-back options are great at all, I think they’ve had a few injuries as well.

“He’s got versatility of playing right-back, centre-back and in midfield so I think he’ll definitely start wherever he plays.

“It’ll be good for him against the lower-end teams to develop and get used to having the ball like he would at Burnley.

“Also in the Premier League, we might not have as much of the ball against the bigger teams, so it’ll be a good chance for him to learn how he can play without having the ball.

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“Obviously, City, from the academy, are used to having a lot of the ball, so I think it’ll be good experience for him and he’ll come back a better player, even though he is already very good.”

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