Exclusive: Sky Sports pundit urges Burnley to cut ties with £20k-a-week man - it simply "hasn't worked out" | OneFootball

Mike Tresor has become somewhat of an invisible man at Turf Moor - a summer departure is surely inevitable

Burnley's push for promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking has been conducted with plenty of the same players that came down last season, but one individual who has been absent for much of 2024-25 is Mike Tresor.

The mercurial Belgian playmaker was loaned in by Vincent Kompany late on in the summer transfer window of 2023 from Genk, having notched a mammoth 24 assists on top of eight goals in the Belgian Pro League the season prior.

Tresor was meant to be a game-changing creative spark for Burnley in the top tier of English football, but he was ineffective and only started four times, and was barely used in the second half of the campaign.

The Clarets however were obligated to purchase Tresor even after their relegation to the Championship, with a £15.4 million fee being paid, as per The Athletic - it's proving to be a disastrous deal for all concerned.

Don Goodman urges Burnley FC to sell Mike Tresor this summer

Many expected a quick exit for Tresor this summer, perhaps back to Belgium or another European club, and Dutch giants Ajax did make a move for the 25-year-old - only to be priced out of a deal.

That meant that Tresor remained in Lancashire, but it took him until January for his first appearance of the season, which came in the form of a substitute appearance against Reading in the FA Cup third round, notching an assist in extra time as Burnley advanced with a 3-1 win.

Aside from that though, Tresor has been absent from every other matchday squad - club chairman Alan Pace confirmed in December that the attacking midfielder was fit and available, but wasn't being selected, although Scott Parker finally did utilise him a few weeks later.

He has been absent once again though ever since, with Parker revealing in early February injury issues have reared their ugly head again - Sky Sports pundit Don Goodman thinks that the confusing saga of Tresor needs to end this summer with a departure for the attacker.

"Hard to know what to say really about Mike Tresor," Goodman said when speaking exclusively to Football League World.

"Played 19 times last season for Burnley, it hasn't really worked out, and he's only played in the FA Cup season so far this season, so I would absolutely imagine that the best thing for him, his career and Burnley is that they part ways.

"He's not a player that I've seen too much of or claim to know much about in reality, but clearly, with regards to this move to Burnley and England, it simply hasn't worked out for him."

Mike Tresor, Burnley situation is bizarre and should have been ended last summer

Burnley were of course tied up with the Tresor deal when the summer transfer window of 2024 opened, given they were obligated to bring him in permanently, as well as dealing with his estimated £20,000 per week wages, as per Capology.

After how he performed in the Premier League for the Clarets, Tresor was never likely to figure much under Scott Parker, and the fact he hasn't been in a league matchday squad all season speaks volumes.

There have been two transfer windows for the club's hierarchy to try and move the playmaker on, but both times nothing has come to fruition, leaving Tresor - FA Cup exploits aside at the Select Car Leasing Stadium - to be a waste of a wage.