Striker will surely leave Burnley FC - Vincent Kompany signing has really failed to deliver | OneFootball

Striker Michael Obafemi has had two disappointing loan spells with Plymouth Argyle and Millwall and is surely on his way out of Burnley.

Burnley striker Michael Obafemi is looking increasingly likely to be on his way out of Turf Moor following a couple of loan spells with Plymouth Argyle and Millwall that didn't exactly see him impress.

The Clarets will be in the Premier League next season following their second-placed finish in the Championship this campaign and with 24-year-old Obafemi struggling in the second tier, it looks unlikely that there is a future for him at Burnley.

Signed by Vincent Kompany on a loan deal in January 2023 that was made permanent that summer for £3.5 million, it looked to be a good deal given that he scored 15 goals in 52 games in South Wales.

However, he hasn't pulled up many trees with the club and has only made 16 appearances in total, scoring just two goals.

Seemingly not in Kompany or Scott Parker's plans, he was on loan at Millwall for the second half of last season and spent the entirety of this season at relegated Plymouth Argyle.

Tumultuous loan spells for Obafemi

At Millwall, Obafemi only scored two goals in 14 games at The Den and his spell ended on a very sour note. Manager Neil Harris left him out of the squad at the end of the season for "disciplinary reasons," while also ruling out a return to the club for the next season.

While it was never confirmed what the disciplinary issue Obafemi was involved in was, Harris said: “All I’m going to say is I’m building a culture and an environment at the football club. The standards are set by Neil Harris and Millwall Football Club.”

This past season has been spent at Plymouth Argyle, who also got relegated, with Obafemi having an even worse time of it and only scoring two goals in 31 games. For a striker, that is a very low number of goals scored, whatever the club's position in the league table.

Being part of a relegated side is bad enough, but failing to stand out among that group of players is worse and doesn't really bode well for coming back to a team who will be playing in the Premier League.

Often coming off the bench for Argyle shows that he was never really trusted by management.

Obafemi's future

From bursting onto the scene at Southampton and showing the extent of his potential with Swansea City, to struggling to start for a team relegated from the Championship, it has been quite the fall from grace for the Ireland striker.

Now that Burnley are promoted, there is effectively no chance that he will start next season at Turf Moor. It isn't clear right now who is interested and what level he may be playing at, but you would expect someone to take a gamble on him given the promise that he showed earlier on in his career.

A lack of momentum has been a large factor in his bad form and if he was to get a consistent run of starting games, then he may be able to replicate the promise he showed at Southampton and the quality he showed at Swansea.

Signing him would be a risk, but one that has the potential to have a huge upside to it as he is still only 24 years old and clearly has the ability to potentially succeed.

Unfortunately for Burnley, it was a risk that did not pay off and the Clarets will surely not recoup much of that £3.5 million that they initially paid. For that reason, his transfer looks to have been a bad bit of business.