Football League World
·23 December 2024
Football League World
·23 December 2024
FLW looks into the financial aspect of a potential deal involving McBurnie and the two Lancashire rivals
Burnley and Blackburn Rovers' bitter rivalry is one of the longest-standing in the English game.
Having played out a 1-1 draw at Turf Moor the day after the closure of the summer transfer window, the respective East Lancashire outfits may find themselves battling it out on more than just the occasion when the rivalry is due to be renewed at Ewood Park on January 4th.
Both Scott Parker and John Eustace have earned their fair share of plaudits across the opening four months of the Championship season, as the Clarets find themselves in third place - just four points behind league leaders Sheffield United - whilst Rovers, who were expected to be in a relegation battle once more by many outsiders, are currently residing in fifth place, largely down to a strong recent run of results.
Therefore, the duo will be hoping to add further firepower to their ranks in order to achieve their objectives for the remainder of the campaign, with the two clubs seeing themselves linked alongside the familiar second tier name of Oli McBurnie.
According to a recent report from Alan Nixon, the two rivals are both intent on striking a loan agreement with the 28-year-old, who only joined his current club, Las Palmas, on a three-year contract on July 25th after his release from Bramall Lane.
Nixon has stated that Burnley are keen to add further firepower to their attacking ranks, which already includes the likes of Lyle Foster,Jay Rodriguez, and summer recruit Andreas Hountondji.
However, their rivals from across the M65 are also believed to have the same desires and have pinpointed the man who once set the Blades back £20m as an ideal temporary target, having netted the fewest goals out of any side currently in the play-offs with a tally of 25.
It is believed that McBurnie, who has featured in 15 of Los Amarillos' top division outings thus far - seven of which have come from the start - is content in Gran Canaria despite the fact both of his two goals thus far have come in a recent Copa del Rey success over fourth division outfit, CD Europa.
Regardless of his reported current stance, it is clear that the one-time promotion winner, who has 44 goals in 125 second-tier games on his CV, is a target for both the Clarets and the Blues, which leads us to the potential financial ramifications of a loan move.
After signing his aforementioned three-year contract at the Estadio de Gran Canaria, estimated figures from Capology state that the 17-time Scotland international is collecting a weekly salary of €40,000 (approximately £33,138) per week.
Burnley are said to have the second-highest wage bill in the second tier at £596,000 per week, and if McBurnie was to seal a loan move to Turf Moor, he would be the fourth-highest earner at the club, just in front of his potential strike partner, Foster, who collects a weekly pay packet of £32,500.
As for Rovers, their financial situation under the Venky's has been laid bare at various points across the year, which included the reported £9m+ sale of Sammie Szmodics to Ipswich Town in August.
The Ewood Park club are operating in a completely different ballpark to their rivals, with a weekly payroll of £234,000 being the eighth-lowest in the Championship.
Therefore, if McBurnie was to strike a six-month loan with Eustace's side, he would immediately become the top earner at the club, with that 'honour' currently falling to summer signing Todd Cantwell, who is said to earn a weekly wage of £30,000 per week.
Despite the two clubs being among the early-season frontrunners when it comes to achieving automatic promotion or a play-off race, it would be fair to say that goalscoring hasn't been either side's strongest facet.
Burnley have netted just thrice more than Blackburn, and only two of those have come from natural centre-forwards in the form of Foster (2) and Rodriguez, whose only goal thus far came from the spot against Swansea City in November.
Meanwhile, Yuki Ohashi, Andreas Weimann and Makhtar Gueye have scored a fifth of Rovers' low tally between them, which further emphasises the need for a different profile of forward at either of the two sides.
With a wealth of Championship experience from his time at the Blades, Swansea and Barnsley to call upon, there are certainly far worse options to explore than McBurnie, who scored 13 goals in 38 appearances during his last season at this level, and you can always rely on the striker to wear his heart on his sleeve in the process.