‘Haven’t had contact with Burnley’: £4m ace plays down Turf Moor links

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£4 million-rated KV Oostende striker Makhtar Gueye insists he has not spoken to Vincent Kompany regarding a potential summer switch to Championship outfit Burnley, speaking to La Derniere Heure. 

It wasn’t quite a classic case of plummeting back down to terra firma. One step forwards, two steps back. But after all the euphoria of that Huddersfield Town performance on opening day, Saturday’s home draw with Luton Town in Vincent Kompany’s Turf Moor debut did feel slightly underwhelming by comparison. 

Burnley dominated 72 per cent of possession against the Hatters, while producing just one, single shot on target. In fact, across both of their opening fixtures, Kompany’s revamped side have averaged 71 per cent possession and tallied 28 attempts on goal, while finding the back of the net on just two occasions.

So while progress is clear to see, Burnley obviously remain a long way away from the finished package. 

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And a centre-forward with Gueye’s nose for goal would be very well received, given the lack of prolific attackers at Kompany’s disposal.

The 24-year-old Senegalese has been linked with a £4 million move to Lancashire ever since the Man City legend was confirmed as Sean Dyche’s replacement. But, speaking this weekend, Gueye insists that he’s yet to hear from anyone at Turf Moor. 

“I haven’t had any contact with Burnley yet. Nobody has called me and my real estate agent hasn’t talked to me about it yet!” he quips.

“I haven’t received a phone call yet. I only spoke to (Kompany) once. After Anderlecht vs Oostende (last season), when he congratulated me on my performance. 

“I dream of a big competition, without having a real preference. It just has to be a team with a nice project. Even a Belgian team is possible. Why not? There are a lot of big clubs here.”

Gueye, a 6ft 5ins targetman in something of the typical Burnley mould, scored 13 times last term for a bottom-half Oostende side. He admitted in July that he would ‘like to’ work alongside Kompany at some point in the future, while comparing his style of play to the modern-day Championship legend that is Aleksandr Mitrovic.