Football League World
·23 novembre 2024
Football League World
·23 novembre 2024
With a bloated squad, Burnley are likely to have to offload some players in January
With the January transfer window on the horizon, Burnley will be looking at ways in which they can strengthen their squad ahead of the promotion run-in.
Naturally though, that means some players will have to fall by the wayside due to financial and squad restraints, and it's not like the Clarets are short of players who they can sell to free up space.
Even after a summer exodus that saw most of the relegated Premier League squad depart for pastures new, Burnley's squad is still among the biggest and strongest in the league.
That's not particularly helped them too much this season as they remain off the pace in the automatic promotion race and that's largely due to the fact they're struggling in the final third.
January can't come soon enough for Scott Parker as he seeks to address that issue and while he'll undoubtedly be looking at ways in which he can bolster his misfiring frontline, he'll also have a close eye on which players he can move on.
There are three standout candidates to move on, with this trio each finding game time difficult to come by.
The name on everyone's lips at Turf Moor at the moment is Mike Tresor - will he stay or will he go?
Parker suggested at the end of October that Tresor was getting to the point where he was selectable but since he made that claim, the Belgian winger hasn't been seen in a capacity which suggests he'll stay long-term, so it seems like his future lies away from Turf Moor.
The Clarets spent in the region of £16m on Tresor to make his loan move permanent over the summer, although they had little choice as a clause in his loan deal was met which triggered a permanent deal after he made five appearances for the club.
It's highly unlikely that Burnley will recoup anywhere near that figure for their wantaway star, who thrived at Genk but has failed to recreate that form for the Clarets, but even if they can only claw back half of what they paid, it will be money towards solving their attacking issue.
Something of an icon in East Lancashire, Han-Noah Massengo has endeared himself to the Burnley fans without doing much on the pitch, with his quirky social media posts winning over swathes of fans.
The former Bristol City man has found the going tough since moving to Turf Moor in August 2023, making only a handful of appearances in claret and blue so far.
Many believed that after Vincent Kompany departed in the summer, Massengo would get the chance to impress this season, but it hasn't really worked out that way, with Parker seeing him as a bit-part player.
He's played more than the other two on this list, though the fact he's been largely limited to substitute appearances this season gives an insight into the role Parker envisages for him.
Despite only signing in the summer, Shurandy Sambo could be set for a swift Turf Moor exit in January, and if he was to leave, he'd be going without making much of an impression.
Although Sambo only signed officially in the Parker era, his signing is believed to have been in place at the end of Kompany's reign, so it would be amiss to say he was Parker's signing.
Sambo has barely featured in any matchday squads this season, despite arriving with a decent pedigree from PSV, so it's fair to say the right back isn't in Parker's plans.
In fact, he's been that out of favour that against Leeds earlier in the season, Parker played the left-footed Bashir Humphreys at right back instead of Sambo.