James McCarthy has started only four Premier League games for Crystal Palace with Burnley and Bournemouth reportedly offering a potential escape route.
James McCarthy’s ill-fated spell at Crystal Palace could be coming to an end already with Burnley ready to offer the midfielder a fresh start at Turf Moor, according to the Mail.
After making just 17 Premier League appearances in three injury-hit years at Everton, the Republic of Ireland international would have been hoping that a move to London would represent a fresh start.
But McCarthy’s time at Crystal Palace hasn’t exactly gone to plan. Just four of his 16 outings have come from the start with the 29-year-old failing to recapture the form that made him one of the top flight’s most admired midfielders during Roberto Martinez’s once promising Everton era.
And The Mail report that a move to Burnley could be on the cards, just five months after McCarthy joined Roy Hodgson’s Palace for what looked like a bargain £3 million.
Bournemouth are interested too and, with Eddie Howe’s side being outclassed in successive defeats to Brighton and West Ham, the latter finishing 4-0, a player with McCarthy’s experience and tenacity would certainly be welcomed on the South Coast.
A midfielder with an excellent attitude on and off the pitch, the one-time Wigan man is the type of character who Sean Dyche loves to work with and a move to Burnley could help McCarthy get back to his best.
The Clarets are long-time admirers, having first tried to sign McCarthy all the way back in 2017. The Mail reports that he was valued at £20 million back then – but it’s fair to say his price-tag is far lower these days.
Links with McCarthy will surely cast further doubt on whether Chelsea loanee Danny Drinkwater still has a future at Turf Moor.
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