The message from Vincent Kompany was clear and concise. Burnley are in the market for January reinforcements. But the Championship leaders will only bring new players to Turf Moor if they are capable of contributing to the Clarets’ title-charge.
Quality over quantity is the order the day in Lancashire.
“We are trying to build something with the guys we have got. If someone is stronger and we can bring them in to help the squad, then we will do it,” Kompany tells Lancs Live. “But we don’t do it for the sake of it.”
Finding someone capable of strolling straight into a team sitting four points clear at the top of Championship table may be no easy task. Burnley have been, by some distance, the most impressive team in the second tier this term; accumulating 56 points, scoring 52 goals, and adapting brilliantly to Kompany’s Guardiola-influenced possession-heavy style.
Signing a striker is Burnley’s number one January priority
The lack of depth in the number nine role is, perhaps, the only missing piece in Kompany’s Burnley jigsaw. Jay Rodriguez has nine goals in 19 starts. But Ashley Barnes, at 33, is no longer the defence-bothering force of old. Halil Dervisoglu, meanwhile, may be re-called by Brentford after only 59 minutes of Championship football.
Sam Surridge, then, would be welcomed with open arms at Turf Moor. Specifically, by one-time Swansea City team-mate Conor Roberts.
“He’s a talented lad,” Roberts tells the Burnley Express of Surridge, the £2.2 million Nottingham Forest benchwarmer. “He’s obviously got quality, otherwise he wouldn’t have been at the clubs he has.
“He might come in and score the goal that gets us promoted. You never know.”
Surridge certainly has a track record when it comes to contributing at the top end of the Championship. His seven goals in seven starts were a major factor in Forest ending their near-quarter-of-a-century absence from the Premier League less than 12 months ago.
Viktor Gyokeres, Coventry City’s Swedish international talisman, is a striker in a similar mould; physically imposing yet fleet of foot, and an emphatic finisher. Per The Sun, Gyokeres is top of Kompany’s January wishlist. Coventry’s prohibitive £15 million asking price could force Burnley to prioritise more affordable alternatives, however, with Surridge likely to be available on loan.
A deal for Gyokeres’ Coventry team-mate Callum O’Hare, meanwhile, is no longer on the cards. The silky playmaker ruptured his ACL recently, and may be out of action for nine months.
Sam Surridge or Viktor Gyokeres?
According to the Bristol Post, Burnley retain an interest in Bristol City’s Ghanaian attacker Antoine Semenyo. In the space of one year, his price-tag has reportedly fallen from £20 million to around £5 million. And Bristol City may be forced to cash in as his contract runs down.
Semenyo, who can play out wide and as a second-striker, would add versatility and depth to a Burnley frontline already containing the mercurial Manuel Benson and Anass Zaroury. As the Bristol Post points out, Burnley could use their remaining parachute payments and the money they brought in from the sale of Nick Pope and co to lure Semenyo away from Ashton Gate.
‘Sensational’ Ameen Al-Dakhil could be arriving
Reinforcements are also being targeted at the other end of the pitch, with Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Ian Maatson and Jordan Beyer only at Turf Moor on short-term deals. Luke McNally and CJ Egan-Riley, meanwhile, are yet to force their way into Kompany’s starting XI.
Per HBVL, Burnley could finally bring Ameen Al-Dakhil to Lancashire after submitting a £3.5 million bid for the Iraq-born Belgium U21 international over the summer.
“Kompany called me personally,” explains the right-footed Sint-Triuden centre-back. “Am I ready to leave? I hope so.”
Labelled Al-Dakhil a ‘sensational’ talent, Sint-Triuden coach Bernd Hollerbach is fully aware of Kompany’s interest in his 20-year-old colossus.
According to Aftonbladet, Burnley are also in contact to sign Djurgarden’s twice-capped Sweden defender Hjalmar Ekdal. Given that Ekdal also plays on the right of a defensive duo, it’s likely to be a case of he or Al-Dakhil, rather than both.
Burnley allowed veteran Matt Lowton to join Huddersfield Town this week. The Clarets remain well covered at right-back due to the presence of Vitinho and the aforementioned Roberts.
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