Burnley capitalising on Leeds United contract situation was a masterstroke in 2017: View | OneFootball

FLW looks back at Burnley's 2017 capture of Charlie Taylor from Leeds United, and how it turned out to be a masterstroke for the Clarets.

Charlie Taylor was one of the brightest young talents in the Championship when Burnley signed him from Leeds United in 2017.

Having established himself as a key member of predominantly Steve Evans' and Garry Monk's Leeds sides respectively, the left-back had already made over 90 Championship appearances for the Whites before he'd turned 24.

As such, interest in his services was rife across English football, but Leeds were desperate to hold on to their academy graduate, despite the defender being out of contract come the end of the 2016/17 season.

Middlesbrough, West Bromwich Albion and Crystal Palace all reportedly had bids worth £7m rejected for Taylor in January 2017, whilst sources close to Taylor were reported to have believed that a move to Premier League giants Liverpool was also possible.

But it would be Burnley that would secure his signature that summer, as Football League World takes a look at how his addition will surely go down as a Turf Moor masterstroke.

Burnley bagged a bargain with Taylor deal

Fending off all that aforementioned interest, Burnley swooped in on the defender in late July 2017, in a deal worth a reported £5m for the then 23-year-old.

Despite being a free agent, with Taylor being under 24, any club who wanted to sign him that summer had to agree to a compensatory fee in order to avoid going through the rigmarole of a tribunal.

A tribunal, its proper name being The Professional Football Compensation Committee (PFCC), occurs when a player under the age of 24 has been offered a new contract by his parent club, but has instead agreed to sign for a different club.

If those two clubs can't mutually agree on the valuation of the player, then it goes to the PFCC who will hear arguments from both clubs, before coming to a final decision on how much the transfer is worth.

Leeds had offered Taylor a new contract at Elland Road, but after realising he wasn't going to sign it, the Whites and the Baggies agreed a deal for the defender.

Being able to sign Taylor for a cut-price fee considering the size of the fees Leeds has been reported as having turned away previously, as well as fending off Premier League interest, was undoubtedly a significant coup for the Clarets.

Taylor went on to become excellent Burnley servant

Despite a few niggling injuries throughout his Burnley career, Taylor would go on to enjoy a highly fruitful time at Turf Moor.

From playing Europa League football in 2018/19, to suffering relegation back to the Championship in 2021/22 only to win promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking in 2022/23, Taylor was a mainstay throughout all those ups and downs.

Arguably having his best individual season in the Premier League during their ill-fated 2021/22 campaign, the versatile defender enjoyed a seven-season affiliation with Burnley that saw him become one of the club's most reliable performers.

Rarely dropping below a six out of ten even in the club's worst moments, Taylor was always a player whom opposition managers had to account for at both ends of the pitch.

During Burnley's 2022/23 Championship title-winning season under Vincent Kompany - a season that saw him make 33 league appearances -, Taylor proved himself as being one of the second tier's best defenders once again.

Indeed, his 64.1% successful passes per 90 minutes put him in the top 93.8 percentile of Championship left-backs that season, whilst his 0.42 chances created per 90 placed him in the top 82.3 percentile - per FotMob.

Following the club's relegation back to the Championship for this season and being out of contract at Turf Moor, Taylor's performances were enough to ensure he'd be staying in the Premier League for 2024/25.

Newly promoted Southampton snapped the now 30-year-old left-back up on a free transfer this summer, signing a two-year contract with the Saints.

But after seven seasons, over 200 appearances and many memorable moments along the way, Taylor will no doubt go down as one of Burnley's biggest bargains of recent times.