Selling Josh Brownhill: Burnley FC will want to avoid these 2 nightmare transfer scenarios this January | OneFootball

Burnley need to get their January recruitment right and will want to avoid these two nightmare scenarios

With promotion on the line this season, it's imperative that Burnley get their recruitment spot on this month, so they'll be keen to avoid any transfer mishaps of years gone by.

Scott Parker's men are in the thick of the automatic promotion battle as we enter the second half of the campaign, but it's widely acknowledged that they need to make additions in January to help them on their way.

Those fresh faces are mainly required in attack, where the Clarets have struggled at times this season, and their lofty league position largely owes to the fact they boast the best defensive record in second tier history.

Burnley fans will still be keen to see new players come through the door this month to help them get back to the top-flight at the first time of asking, but there are also a couple of glaring scenarios that they can ill-afford to see come to fruition.

Here, we look at two transfer dilemmas that could unravel Burnley's success...

Failing to sign another striker

Burnley certainly aren’t blessed with too many options at the top end of the pitch, but it’s widely acknowledged that those they do have at their disposal could probably be improved upon.

Jay Rodriguez is in the twilight of his career, as is the returning Ashley Barnes. Lyle Foster certainly isn’t prolific at this level and Zian Flemming isn’t a number nine by trade, so it’s certainly an area Parker needs to look at improving.

To give Flemming some credit, he’s performed admirably in that position for most of this season, but his inclusion has the feeling of a square peg in a round hole, and that’s not something Burnley need at this point in the season if they’re serious about promotion.

They’ve been involved in 10 Championship draws this season, and in most they’ll probably feel they should’ve won, but just not had the firepower to put the ball in the back of the net to fall on the right side of tight margins.

That’s where a prolific number nine could come in handy, and with the Clarets' defence being as watertight as it has been this season, that proper striker would certainly be worth a few points to Burnley.

Cashing in on Josh Brownhill

The Clarets will almost certainly be tempted to cash in on Josh Brownhill this month before he looks set to leave on a free transfer in the summer, but that would be catastrophic to their promotion hopes.

Brownhill has been integral to their success of late, and in a midfield trio with Josh Laurent and Josh Cullen, Parker seems to have finally found his best position in the team - at the point of the midfield.

The former Bristol City man is the club’s top scorer this season with nine goals, but aside from just the goals, he brings something different to the table, in that he just gets what the club is about.

He’s also been here and done it in the promotion race before, achieving promotion with Vincent Kompany’s 2022/23 team, so he knows exactly what it takes to get out of this league and how to grind out results in the nitty-gritty end-of-season stage.

Cashing in on him would be a disaster. The club would be better to lose him for free and give themselves the best chance of playing Premier League football next season.