Burnley FC: £17.5m West Ham flop should steer response to January bids | OneFootball

Burnley's handsome profit on Maxwel Cornet could shape how they handle any January bids

For a Burnley side pushing for automatic promotion, the January transfer window promises to be make or break to their ambitions of getting back to the Premier League.

While adding players into the fold is the ultimate aim for Scott Parker in the coming weeks, he's sure to be wondering if any clubs will come in for his best players.

Bearing the psychological scars of selling most of their squad in the summer, player sales aren't something alien to the Clarets, who are notoriously a selling club.

Maxwel Cornet was one of those examples in the summer of 2022 when, after spending under a year at Turf Moor, his Premier League performances earned him a summer move to West Ham after Burnley had been relegated.

The Ivorian was a shining light in an otherwise poor Burnley side, and although his move disappointed every Burnley fan at the time, looking back, it gives the Clarets a blueprint that they should bear in mind in January.

Maxwel Cornet has flopped since leaving Burnley

Cornet shot to stardom in the 2021/22 season, with his nine goals for Burnley that season catching the eye, largely due to the fact they all came for a side who were ultimately relegated.

The clamour surrounding Cornet was understandably high in the summer, and it was West Ham who won the race for his signature, splashing out £17.5m to secure the forward's signature.

That was certainly a healthy fee for the Clarets to receive in a summer that also saw the likes of Ben Mee, James Tarkowski, Nick Pope and Dwight McNeil all depart, but Cornet has gone on to be the biggest flop of them all.

Admittedly, injuries have blighted his West Ham career, but even in games he has played, he's made a nominal impact, scoring just once in 36 run-outs for the Hammers, and he was loaned out to Southampton for this current season.

That shows how little return West Ham have had on their healthy investment, and as it's transpired, Burnley have definitely been the winners out of this deal, but it must make them question their approach to this upcoming January window.

Maxwel Cornet's shortcomings prove that sometimes it's good to sell players at the peak of their game

While it probably didn't seem that way at the time for Burnley fans, selling Cornet has transpired to be one of the best bits of business they've done in a long time, and ultimately, they sold him when he was at the top of his game.

That begs the question whether they should cash in on some of their current stars while they're also at the top of their game, with the likes of James Trafford, Luca Koleosho and Maxime Esteve all attracting interest.

Burnley have already been stung with Koleosho, as no one met their £40m valuation in the summer, and after a poor first half of the season in the Championship, he can't now be deemed to be worth anywhere near that figure.

Both Esteve and Trafford have been standout performers this term, and will both undoubtedly fetch big fees, but as both still have plenty to prove in the game, the Clarets should surely be questioning whether they cash in now in case of a similar episode to that of Cornet.

Of course, selling in January will likely be detrimental to their promotion push, but if they can replace them with quality, then they could have financial gain and a similar level of replacement, which perhaps provides food for thought for Scott Parker and Alan Pace.