Report: Burnley make £4m bid for 2017 target; also want ex-Juventus forward

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Burnley have had a £4 million bid for Nottingham Forest defender Joe Worrall rejected and are interested in former Juventus forward Francesco Margiotta according to the Sun (31 August, page 62).

While Clarets boss Sean Dyche has been tracking one of the Championship’s most impressive central defenders for the best part of three years now, it is fair to say Margiotta is a new name on the lips of everyone at Turf Moor.

A 27-year-old former Azzurri youth star who rose through the ranks at Juventus, Margiotta has endured a nomadic existence in professional football.

But, since travailing the Alps and leaving Italy for Switzerland, the late-blooming forward has found his feet at last.

In 2019/20, Margiotta produced an impressive 14 goals and 12 assists for a mid-table Luzern outfit, impressing both as an out-and-out forward and a scheming attacking midfielder.

The Sun claims that Burnley could soon make their interest known.

While Luzern are still the dark right now, the same cannot be said of a Nottingham Forest side who know all about the Clarets’ interest in their academy graduate-turned-centre-back star.

The report adds that Burnley have had an initial offer of £4 million rejected for Worrall.

It remains to be seen whether the Lancashire outfit are ready to raise that bid with Ben Gibson, the forgotten man of Turf Moor, potentially set to go in the other direction.

Either way, Worrall would probably have to get used to life on the bench at Burnley with neither Ben Mee nor James Tarkowski going anywhere this summer.