"A bit left-field" - Burnley FC praised for summer transfer after some doubts | OneFootball

Since making the £500,000 summer switch from Stoke City to Burnley, Josh Laurent has surprised a lot of Burnley fans

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

When it was first rumoured that Josh Laurent was making a £500,000 switch from Stoke City to Burnley, most Clarets fans greeted the move with a touch of dismay.

Perhaps there was an element of football snobbery in there somewhere that a side coming out of the Premier League would be signing players from Stoke on the cheap, but if there's one thing Burnley fans will give you, it's time.

Josh Laurent has already proved he doesn't need time, slotting seamlessly into the starting XI and making himself right at home.

He was thrown into the side with a baptism of fire, starting in an East Lancashire derby against Blackburn Rovers at the end of August, just a day after he was announced as a Burnley player.

He's never really looked back since, and despite Scott Parker putting him in and out of the team at times, the former Fulham and Bournemouth boss now seems to have realised that he's one of the first names on the team sheet these days and that Burnley are a better side with him in it.

Laurent's performance levels have been a "big surprise"

We asked FLW’s Burnley fan pundit Nathan Rogers which player has surprised him most this season at Turf Moor, and he named Laurent, who he claimed has surprised him for the right reasons, despite the initial "confusion" at the signing.

He said: "We brought him in for £500,000 from Stoke to a bit of confusion from the fans. It was a signing that was a bit left-field and no one saw coming or understood why.

"He quickly endeared himself to the Burnley fans after a solid performance against Blackburn, making some meaty challenges and showing some silky play with the ball.

"He's played that attacking midfielder role really well but is also happy to fill in and do the dirty work when required.

"You would never have put Josh Laurent into a potential title winning team, but for him to step in and look like one of our better players is a big surprise to everyone."

It's not just Nathan who's surprised by Laurent's impressive start, he speaks for a lot of Burnley fans when he says they were initially underwhelmed, but most supporters would now acknowledge he's been one of the better performers.

Laurent has made a spot in Burnley's midfield his own

Laurent came to Burnley with mixed reviews from Stoke fans, but all Burnley fans can say they've seen from Laurent so far is positive things.

There's plenty of competition for places in Burnley's midfield, with Lauren't keeping big-money summer signing Hannibal Mejbri out of the team, while he's also arguably above Josh Cullen and Josh Brownhill in the pecking order at the moment.

He's been asked to play a different type of role for the Clarets of late, occupying a more advanced role outside of what most would acknowledge is his strongest position, but he's slotted in seamlessly in the midst of a shortage of attackers for Burnley.

Laurent has made positive forward runs and has helped knit Burnley's attack together, and although that hasn't yet been reflected in goal contributions, what he brings elsewhere certainly isn't going unnoticed, as our fan pundit Nathan duly points out.