Burnley FC: Scott Parker must succeed where Dyche & Kompany failed in January | OneFootball

Scott Parker can't make the same striking mishaps Sean Dyche and Vincent Kompany made in their January windows

The January transfer window promises to be make or break for Burnley's season, with Scott Parker almost certainly in the market for a new striker this month.

Burnley have already swooped to sign Ashley Barnes this month to reinforce their front line, but there's a common understanding among Clarets fans that the re-signing of Barnes will have a bigger impact off the pitch than on it.

Barnes has been promoted out of the Championship with the club three times before, so he knows exactly what it takes to get out of the league, but he doesn't necessarily solve the on-field issue Burnley still have staring them in the face.

There's a shared acceptance that Burnley are still crying out for an out-and-out number nine, with Parker using Zian Flemming there across the last couple of months in Lyle Foster's injury absence.

Foster hasn't set the world alight when he has played though, which is where these calls for a proven striker come from.

But although the Clarets are in dire need of a striker, it has to be the right person, as they can ill-afford to make the same mistakes previous managers have.

Sean Dyche and Vincent Kompany made some terrible striker signings in January

The main thing for Parker in January is to make the right signings for the club, rather than just getting bodies through the door for the sake of it which ultimately saddle the club with players who are no use to them.

That's a situation the club were left in by Sean Dyche and Vincent Kompany, who both signed strikers in January's gone which can ultimately be classed as failures.

Wout Weghorst is perhaps the best example of that, as having been signed by Dyche in January 2022 for £12m to help the Clarets beat the drop, he was unsuccessful in helping them do that and ultimately caused a whole world of issues with getting out of the club.

Although the next two examples are nowhere near as problematic as Weghorst was, both Foster and Michael Obafemi - both signed by Kompany in January 2023 - have flopped at Turf Moor, and even his January 2024 loan signing up front, David Datro Fofana, was a flop.

Burnley spent the best part of £10m on Foster, but it's fair to say he's been an abject failure at Turf Moor to date, while Obafemi set the Clarets back £3.5m but has barely kicked a ball in anger for the club and is currently on loan at Plymouth.

Scott Parker can't make those kinds of mistakes this month

It's fair to say that Burnley haven't got the best relationship with signing strikers in January, but Parker knows that to boost their promotion hopes he needs to bring the right man in this month.

Although Flemming has performed to the best of his abilities up front, it's plain to see that he lacks the killer instinct you'd expect of a striker and is better suited to playing just off the front.

Financially, the club aren't in a position to make those kinds of mistakes anymore, and with promotion far from guaranteed, getting this investment wrong could open up a huge can of worms if Burnley remain in the Championship for next season.

As yet, there have been few rumblings that Burnley have made any meaningful moves for a striker, and although that would suggest the Clarets are slow off the mark, it's not a bad thing for the club to be doing their due diligence to make sure they get the right man.