Burnley FC were the real winners from £3m Derby County sale | OneFootball

Burnley's decision to sell Jason Shackell to Derby County wasn't as bad a call as it first seemed

After relegation from the Premier League in 2015, it was widely acknowledged that Burnley would have to sell players to help ease the financial burden that comes with a return to the Championship.

But one thing Burnley fans certainly didn't account for was the potential for their better players to be sold off to other Championship clubs, and that's exactly what happened with Jason Shackell.

After relegation, Shackell was one man who elected to jump ship, returning to Derby County, where Burnley had signed him from initially, with the Rams stumping up a reported £3m to re-sign the left-sided centre back.

That was a real statement signing from a Derby side who at the time were doing everything they could to get back into the Premier League, but no matter how much money they threw at it, they simply couldn't get there.

It was hoped Shackell was the final piece of the puzzle, and in strengthening their own side, Derby felt like they'd also significantly weakened a promotion rival by taking their captain.

But in fact, what transpired was that the Rams had inadvertently aided a Championship winning machine.

Jason Shackell's departure was the best thing to happen to Burnley

Although it didn't seem that way at the time, Shackell leaving was a blessing in disguise for Burnley, who although now had a gaping hole a left centre back, had an able candidate waiting in the wings.

Sean Dyche started that Championship season by pairing Michael Keane and veteran Michael Duff at centre back, while Ben Mee filled in at left back, which certainly wasn't his best position.

Dyche eventually decided he'd seen enough after a 3-0 drubbing at Hull City on Boxing Day and shuffled his defensive pack to include Mee at centre back alongside Keane, and as they say, the rest is history.

Mee never relinquished that spot for the rest of the season, and starting from his first game there, a 4-0 hammering of Bristol City, the Clarets posted a 23-game unbeaten run across the rest of the Championship season on their way to lifting the title.

There's no doubting Mee played a huge role in that success, and from that point on he was a mainstay in the Burnley defence throughout the Premier League years, but he was only truly afforded that chance due to the sale of Shackell.

Jason Shackell's career went downhill after moving to Derby County

Back in 2015 when he moved to Pride Park, £3m wasn't quite the nominal fee it is now, so Derby invested a sizeable chunk of money into Shackell and firmly believed he held the key to promotion.

But in reality, that couldn't have been further from the truth, as he was left with egg on his face when Burnley went straight back up and Derby fell in the play-offs.

That proved to be the only real tilt Shackell had at getting back into the top-flight, as after that he fell out of favour at Derby and was subsequently shipped off to Millwall, and subsequently Lincoln City, where he retired without having had another crack at the Premier League.

That goes to show that Burnley were the true winners out of the £3m deal, not only because they had the last laugh in going up while Shackell stayed down, but because they were able to discover that Mee was an unpolished diamond at centre back.

Mee played 376 times for Burnley, and at centre back, was a key part of the side who spent six successive seasons in the Premier League and got into Europe - all that possible thanks to Shackell's departure.