Burnley agreement with Swansea City is looking like one to forget: View | OneFootball

Michael Obafemi has endured a torrid time since leaving Swansea City for Burnley back in January 2023

Burnley supporters could be forgiven for forgetting that striker Michael Obafemi is still one of their players after the 24-year-old completed a loan move to Plymouth Argyle last month, following on from his loan spell at Millwall last season.

The Irishman only joined the Clarets 18 months ago, and it's safe to say that his time at Turf Moor has been a miserable one so far.

Obafemi had blown hot and cold at his previous club, Swansea City, but when he was on form, he was as prolific as the Championship's best, and it's easy to see why Vincent Kompany signed him back in January 2023.

However, he's yet to find form in Lancashire for a variety of reasons, and it looks as if Obafemi's time as a Burnley player will go down as one to forget for the Turf Moor faithful.

Michael Obafemi's time at Burnley is looking like one to forget

The Republic of Ireland striker joined the Clarets initially on loan in January 2023, with an obligation to buy the following summer for a fee of £3.5million.

He made a decent enough start to life at Turf Moor, and he scored twice in his opening three league games, but it wasn't enough to earn a starting berth in Kompany's team, and he was used from the bench for the rest of the season.

Obafemi has started just one game as a Burnley player, and that came in a 1-0 FA Cup win over Fleetwood Town back in March 2023, but he was part of a side that won the Championship title and was a Premier League player, so he would have been pleased enough with his first few months at Turf Moor went.

However, a hamstring injury suffered prior to the Clarets' 2023/24 Premier League campaign meant he made just two appearances for the club last season, both from the bench, and he was loaned to Millwall in January to play regular football.

His time at The Den wasn't particularly fruitful either, and his two goals in 14 appearances wasn't enough to earn a chance in Scott Parker's side for the 2024/25 season, with Burnley now back in the Championship.

Instead, he was loaned out to Plymouth Argyle, and he's yet to start a league game for Wayne Rooney's side, albeit it is early days yet.

Obafemi has played just 16 games for Burnley, scoring twice, and is now on his second loan away from Turf Moor since joining permanently a year ago, not how he'd have envisaged his time with the club going.

In hindsight, Michael Obafemi should have knuckled down at Swansea City

Obafemi has now played senior football for five different clubs at the age of 24, and his 52 appearances for Swansea remain the most that he's played for one club.

The Irishman struggled at first at Swansea and was told by boss Russell Martin to improve his "off-the-field professionalism", leading to him being left out of a number of matchday squads.

However, the second half of the 2021/22 season saw Obafemi enjoy his most prolific spell in senior football, and he scored 11 times between February and May, a run of form which ultimately led to Burnley's interest.

Scoring 11 Championship goals in three months as a 21-year-old for a side that finished 15th was no mean feat, but he never kicked on from that, and finds himself in the position that he's in now.

Had Obafemi knuckled down in the summer of 2022 and seen his long-term future at Swansea, then who knows what he could have achieved, but he was left out of the matchday squad nine times during the first half of the 2022/23 season, and it became clear he didn't see his future at Swansea.

The Irishman must surely look back at the way he finished the 2021/22 season and think about what could have been, and had he been fit and committed, there's no reason why Swansea couldn't have had a crack at promotion during the 2022/23 season, eventually finishing three points off the play-offs despite an awful run of form in the middle of the season.

Obafemi is only 24 and has plenty of time to turn things around, but his move to Burnley has proved a waste of time, and he must wonder what he could have achieved at Swansea had he not been so keen to move away.