Burnley must wish £30k-a-week forward was starring at Turf Moor right now | OneFootball

The Clarets loaned their striker to Benfica for the season, and are struggling for goals in the race for promotion

What Burnley would give for a player who could find the net on a regular basis right now.

The Clarets’ promotion push has been hindered by an inability to turn their dominance in games into goals and points, with no fewer than eleven goalless draws throughout their Championship campaign to date.

While the arrival of Marcus Edwards and return to fitness of Manuel Benson will be welcomed in recent weeks, the Lancashire outfit must be ruing the decision to let Zeki Amdouni join Benfica on loan last summer, where he continues to flourish in the Portuguese league.

The Swiss star could have made all the difference in the race for automatic promotion this season, with two points separating Burnley and the top two heading into the final eleven games of the season.

Zeki Amdouni stars for Benfica after Burnley switch

After making the reported £15.2 million move to Turf Moor in the summer of 2023, Amdouni was a regular feature for the Burnley side that struggled in the Premier League during the 23/24 campaign, and immediately dropped back into the EFL under the management of Vincent Kompany.

As the Belgian boss moved to Bayern Munich and Scott Parker came in, the ethos of free-flowing attacking football swiftly went with him, with the new man in the dugout favouring an attritional brand of football that has seen goals at both ends come at a premium.

That didn’t seem to be the case early in the season, as Amdouni scored in a 5-0 win over Cardiff City, before promptly being given to the Portuguese giants for the remainder of the campaign, in a decision that the Turf Moor chiefs must be regretting right now.

The frontman is a step above Championship football, that is for sure, but he would have guaranteed an immediate return to the top flight if he was still in this Burnley side right now, with that clinical striker the only missing part missing from their dominant displays week on week.

Meanwhile, in Portugal, Amdouni has been scoring in both domestic and European competition, with a late winner in a 3-2 victory over Monaco last November proof of him thriving on the biggest stage.

While he hasn’t always been afforded bountiful minutes on the pitch, the 24-year-old constantly makes the most of his opportunities when he does get game time, with seven goal contributions in 533 league minutes this season, which equates to better than one a game.

With five of his eleven shots on target in the Primeira Liga this season resulting in his name being put on the scoreboard, the Swiss doesn’t need many chances to make his mark, with Benfica still in the hunt for the league title, sitting three points behind Sporting CP with a game in hand.

Burnley would love Zeki Amdouni contribution to Championship promotion push

The Clarets could well be left regretting letting a player who would guarantee goals leave the club last summer, with no one stepping up to the plate and finding the back of the net on a regular basis in his absence.

Josh Brownhill is Burnley’s top scorer in the Championship right now with eleven league goals, while Zian Flemming has seven, but with no other player notching more than three times, Turf Moor has been a dirge of goalscoring activity of late, with Parker’s side paying the price.

While they are still in the mix for automatic promotion - mainly in part to a sensational run of 12 consecutive clean sheets from James Trafford at the other end - Burnley have too often failed to turn performances into points, and could easily be home and hosed by now if only a few of those stalemates resulted into victories.

It is still all to play for at the top of the division with things as tight as ever, but with Amdouni’s presence up top, Burnley would have fancied their chances a lot more than they do right now, with their attacking options failing to make their mark when they need them the most.