Football League World
·26 October 2024
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·26 October 2024
Burnley have a bloated Championship squad and will undoubtedly be forced to ship some players out in January
Although Scott Parker's promotion push at Burnley is gathering momentum, he faces the prospect of having to move on a few players in January to free up space for new arrivals.
The Clarets are firmly in the automatic promotion shake-up, but in desperate need of attacking reinforcements as Parker's side struggle for invention in the final third.
Recruiting players to help them in January will require them to ship players out of the door to not only free up space in the squad, but also to free up some money to fund any moves.
Mike Tresor looks a near certainty to be a makeweight to any Burnley January moves, as after signing from Genk in the summer of 2023, he has made no impact whatsoever, but is one of few highly desirable assets Burnley have left after the summer saw all their big name stars depart.
After a potential summer move failed to materialise, it seems highly unlikely Tresor will allow the same thing to happen in January, but it's unlikely he'll be the only player heading out of the Turf Moor exit door.
This one would break the hearts of many Clarets fans, as he'll forever go down in Burnley folklore as the man who won the title at Ewood Park.
In the 2022/23 promotion winning campaign, he was almost unplayable at times, with his Arjen Robben-esque left-footer playing off the right performances reportedly catching the eye of AC Milan.
He certainly had an eye for the spectacular, famously scoring four almost identical left-footed goals in four successive Championship games, but he was strangely frozen out by Vincent Kompany in the Premier League last term.
He played just eight times in Burnley's unsuccessful fight against the drop and injuries have certainly hampered his progress at times.
That's why he isn't featuring at the moment, as he's sidelined with a calf injury sustained against Blackburn Rovers in August, but as he wasn't a regular starter even before then.
It's hard to imagine he'll be happy to stay at Turf Moor to be a bit part player when he could get minutes in most other Championship sides.
A summer recruit after his PSV contract expired, Sambo must be wondering why on earth he decided to come to England.
The Dutchman has made just one league appearance for the Clarets since the start of the season, that being a cameo in the 1-0 defeat against Sunderland back in August.
Competition for places in his favoured right back position hasn't exactly been fierce either, with the fact Parker elected to play the left-footed Bashir Humphreys there ahead of him showing just how out of favour Sambo is.
Sambo was reported to have been offered out to clubs on loan in the summer, and was even left out of Burnley's initial squad registration. That's since been rectified, but several omissions from the matchday squad suggest there's no place for him at the moment.
A loan move would look likely for Sambo, who could even elect to return to the Netherlands.
If you gave most Burnley fans the opportunity to ship one of their centre backs off, this would more than likely be the man they'd choose.
The former Anderlecht man was signed to reunite with Vincent Kompany, but his move has been an abject failure.
From a stinking debut against Aston Villa back in August 2023, to being given the runaround in a 5-0 defeat to Arsenal, Delcroix has done little to appease the Clarets faithful.
He hasn't as much as made a matchday squad this season as he continues a return from injury, but it's unlikely he'll ever feature for Burnley again.