Burnley FC: Failed Swansea City deal was blessing in disguise that led to £20m profit | OneFootball

Burnley missing out on a Swansea City star in 2018 turned out to be a massive blessing in disguise

After getting into the Europa League in 2018, Burnley would've anticipated that recruiting players in the following summer would be a walk in the park, but that couldn't have been further from the truth.

The summer transfer window that preceded the 2018/19 season turned out to be one of the worst in living memory for a lot of Clarets fans, as they struggled to get deals over the line and missed out on a number of key targets.

One of those was Sam Clucas, who was reportedly close to joining Turf Moor in August 2018 before his move fell through in the closing stages, with little explanation as to why.

The Clarets are believed to have agreed an £8m fee with Swansea City over six years ago but then subsequently shelved the deal, which at the time seemed a strange move given how stretched Burnley's squad was.

Player Thursday-Sunday almost every week throughout August took its toll on the Clarets in the infancy of the 2018/19 season, and an extra body in Clucas certainly wouldn't have gone amiss with the squad looking depleted at times.

Burnley were desperate for a winger like Clucas in 2018

Despite getting into Europe in 2018, there was a belief that if Burnley were to stand still in the following summer without adding anyone, then they'd actually be going backward, and that's what ultimately rang true.

With Robbie Brady suffering a nasty injury in 2017/18, they were a little light on the wing, and there was a sense that Clucas could potentially have been the answer to that issue.

He hadn't particularly impressed at Swansea the season prior, so it was a little surprising to see Burnley making such a big play for him considering that European football gave them some extra pulling power in the market.

They never really made much use of that pulling power, instead panicking late in the window to recruit Joe Hart, Matej Vydra, and Ben Gibson, none of whom made any lasting impression at Turf Moor.

Failure to sign a winger like Clucas definitely harmed them in the infancy of the 2019/19 season, when they were firmly in the bottom three, but they were tossed a lifeline by a surprise winger around Christmas time.

Dwight McNeil benefitted from Clucas' move falling through

Burnley fans caught a first glimpse of Dwight McNeil at the end of the 2017/18 season when he was a final-day substitute against Bournemouth.

The in-stadium announcer that day introduced McNeil by saying "Remember the name", which was a gentle nudge that this player was something special, but never in any Burnley fans' wildest dreams did they expect the success that followed.

Only truly afforded the spot on the left wing that season because there was no Clucas to plug that gaping hole, McNiel went on a mad run when he made his first Premier League start against West Ham in December 2018, contributing to goals in three successive league outings.

He clocked up three goals and five assists at the end of the 2018/19 season to help Burnley preserve their top-flight status, and he continued to go from strength to strength to the point where, after relegation, he had plenty of Premier League suitors.

Burnley eventually secured a £20m profit on their academy graduate when he was sold to Everton, and the domino effect of his career all leads back to a failed Clucas transfer.

Clucas' career has nosedived since his failed Burnley move

Despite coming close to a Premier League move that summer, Clucas instead moved to Stoke City side who had just been relegated out of the Premier League alongside Swansea.

From there, his career really stagnated, with several mediocre seasons in the Potteries before he left Stoke to join a Rotherham side battling at the wrong end of the Championship.

He couldn't help the Millers beat the drop last season, and he now plies his trade for National League side Oldham Athletic, which signals a huge fall from grace for a man who could once upon a time have been playing in Europe.