"Where would he start?" - Burnley links with Liverpool player questioned | OneFootball

The Liverpool defender is said to be linked to a move to Turf Moor this summer

Burnley are said to be interested in bringing Liverpool defender Nat Phillips to the club this summer, according to a recent report from The Athletic.

The Clarets are looking to bounce back into the Premier League at the first opportunity - having endured just one season in the top flight - with Scott Parker the man trusted with leading their charge in the second tier.

With that in mind, the Lancashire outfit are said to be keeping tabs on the 27-year-old, who spent the second-half of the last campaign on loan at Championship rivals Cardiff City.

Turkish Super Lig side Trabzonspor are reported to have had a £4 million bid rejected by the red half of Merseyside this summer, with Arne Slot’s side said to value the centre-back in the region of £8 million.

Nat Phillips, Burnley transfer seems unlikely given the Clarets’ defensive options

Although Phillips performed well for the Bluebirds in in the latter half of the 23/24 campaign, the fact that Burnley are eying him up this summer seems unlikely given the wealth of options at Parker’s disposal.

The Clarets already have the likes of Jordan Beyer, Dara O’Shea and Hjalmnar Ekdal as options to play in the defensive line this season, as well as Ameen Al-Dakhil and Maxime Esteve, with the Lancashire outfit bursting at the seems with defensive cover.

Hannes Delcroix and Luke McNally are also on the books at Turf Moor, although both have struggled for game time of late, with the latter spending the previous campaign in the Championship with Stoke City.

With the plethora of options to fill the gaps at the back, FLW's Burnley fan pundit Ben Livingstone believes the chasing of Phillips is unnecessary at this moment in time, with the Clarets already having better options at their disposal.

Livingstone said: “I think that’s a strange one, there’s going to have to be a lot of movement. Defensively, I think there’s going to be the most movement in terms of players out.

“There are plenty of players in that position, and Nat Phillips - where would he start?

“You’ve got to look at Beyer, O’Shea, Ekdal, Al-Dakhil and Esteve as your main five centre-backs, and I think McNally and Delcroix will be sold.

“Maybe Al-Dakhil will be sold, maybe Ekdal will be sold, but I think O’Shea, Beyer and Esteve have to stay. So I think the left position is where we should be looking to bring players in at centre-back.

“Especially if Trabzonspor have had a £4 million bid rejected, I think that’s a lot of money. I know in the past he’s been rumoured to be worth £15 million but he’s not really played much football, to be honest.”

“He’s been alright when he’s played for Liverpool, but on the whole he’s not particularly done anything, and it’s not like he’s getting any younger either.

“It’s not like he’s a young centre-back - he’s not old but he’s not young - and it just doesn’t make sense to me why we would go for him when he have got so many players in that position.”

Scott Parker must address Burnley’s bulging squad ahead of Championship campaign

As mentioned above, Burnley have more than enough players within their playing squad at this moment in time, and one of Parker’s first duties as Clarets boss will be to sort out the futures of a number of players at the club.

While goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell has moved on to Birmingham City and Charlie Taylor has joined Southampton, Jack Cork [pictured] is still looking for a club after departing the club he called home for seven years this summer.

But Burnley still have plenty of players they could do with offloading this summer, with the likes of Scott Twine, Wout Weghorst and Anass Zaroury all returning to the club after loan spells away last season.

While that dilemma will need to be fixed, Livingstone also believes another fresh face in the final third is needed this summer, as Burnley look to repeat their 22/23 Championship title-winning success.

The Clarets fan continued: “We’re pretty stacked everywhere at the minute, but I think a striker has got to be a priority, maybe two, and then I don’t know what you do with [Lyle] Foster, Jay Rodriguez and [Michael] Obafemi, but that’s the challenge that [Scott] Parker is going to have this summer.”