Sean Dyche has urged Chris Wood to make a huge impact at Burnley.
Burnley manager Sean Dyche has told The Mirror that he wants new signing Chris Wood to make an instant impact at Turf Moor – just as Neymar has with Paris Saint-Germain.
Having lost Andre Gray to Watford earlier this month, Burnley needed to land another striker, even with Dyche already having Sam Vokes, Ashley Barnes and Jonathan Walters at his disposal.
The Clarets raided Leeds once this summer to sign left back Charlie Taylor, and they have done it again having completed a big-money deal for striker Chris Wood, with the fee claimed to be £15million rising to around £17million.
Wood, 25, enjoyed the best season of his career last term, smashing 30 goals in all competitions for Leeds, silencing his doubters after he only managed 13 goals in his first season with the Whites.
The New Zealand international, formerly of Leicester City and West Bromwich Albion, now has another shot at Premier League success, as he is expected to be Burnley’s main striker following Gray’s exit.
Wood could even make his Burnley debut against local rivals Blackburn Rovers this evening – and he has been urged to hit the ground running by Clarets boss Sean Dyche.
Dyche has told The Mirror that transfer fees should no longer weigh on players’ minds as every player comes at such a huge cost in the modern era, before drawing attention to Neymar’s start to life with Paris Saint-Germain.
Paris Saint-Germain’s Brazilian forward Neymar
The Brazilian, who completed a world record move to the French capital this summer, enjoyed a dream home debut for PSG on Sunday, notching two goals and two assists in a 6-2 win over Toulouse – and Dyche hopes that Wood can make a similarly impressive impact for Burnley, having completed his move from Leeds on Monday.
“Neymar bagged a couple the other night, didn’t he? He went for a couple of quid. He just got on with it,” said Dyche. “You remember when people used to ask, ‘Is it hard carrying that price tag around?’ That doesn’t exist any more, because everyone’s got a massive price tag. Ten years ago, people used to say, ‘He’s signed for a record fee – it must be really hard.’ Every player has a record fee now.
“You ring about any player and they go, ‘£20m.’ Everyone is £20m. So everyone’s got a price tag on their head. “Twelve different clubs have broken their record this summer, because the market’s saying you’ve got to. It’s all changed. The psychology for players has changed. They can just get playing now,” he added.
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