Almeen Al-Dakhil remains ‘happy’ at Belgian outfit Sint-Truiden despite missing out on a £3.5 million move to Championship promotion-pushers Burnley under Vincent Kompany, the defender’s sister tells Het Belang van Limsburg.
The Clarets made almost as many signings as Nottingham Forest in the off-season. 16 in total. But that does not mean Burnley had everything their own way.
Jackson Muleka turned down a move to Turf Moor in favour of joining Wout Weghorst at Besiktas. Anderlecht goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen decided against a Kompany reunion. And Noah Ohio, a one-time Manchester City prospect, obviously felt his development would be better served away from English soil.
20-year-old Al-Dakhil, meanwhile, was the subject of a £3.5 million bid from a Burnley side sitting fifth in the early Championship table.
“He could have learned a lot from Vincent Kompany at Burnley,” admits the youngster’s sister, Maryam. “Oh well, in football there will always be new opportunities.
“In addition, Ameen is happy at Sint-Truiden. He can play weekly and he likes to be seen there. After his first training session, he was impressed by the warm welcome he received from his new teammates. STVV is like a family. Everyone is appreciated.”
Burnley wanted to sign Belgium-based defender Ameen Al-Dakhil
Al-Dakhil, the Iraq-born Belgium U21 international, joined Sint-Truiden from Standard Liege in January of this year. And after just half a year, STVV were never going to sell so soon.
“I know Kompany wants Al Dakhil,” coach Bernd Hollerbach said in August. “But he stays.”
With Taylor Harwood-Bellis, CG Egan-Riley, Luke McNally, Kevin Long and Jordan Beyer all competing for a starting spot at Burnley, Al-Dakhil certainly would have found regular first-team football harder to come by in Lancashire.
Left-back Charlie Taylor, meanwhile, is thriving in a more central role under Kompany too.
“I’ve never played there (before). I’m 28 years old now, so it’s a bit of a shock. But I’m enjoying it. Hopefully I can just keep getting better in that position,” Taylor tells Lancs Live.
“It’s going alright. I’m learning every game and every day in training. The gaffer is a great person to learn from. He is arguably one of the best centre backs we’ve ever seen in this country so it is nice to see he has seen something in me, there is probably no-one better to learn from.
“He just said he didn’t see anything in me that I wouldn’t be able to play there and felt I could do a job. I am enjoying it but I am still learning.”
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