Football League World
·17 May 2023
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·17 May 2023
The future is looking incredibly bright at Burnley Football Club.
First and foremost, the Clarets, having been crowned champions of the Championship in 2022/23, have Premier League football to look forward to once again next season.
Not only that, though, whilst there was previously doubts on who would be leading them for their top flight return, boss Vincent Kompany recently put those to bed, putting pen to paper on a new long-term contract at Turf Moor.
With Kompany's future now certain, it appears that he and the club are wasting no time in identifying who they want to make a move for this summer.
That is the case according to outlet Het Nieuwsblad, who report that the Clarets and Kompany have identified Standard Liege midfielder Gojko Cimirot as a transfer target.
As per their report, the Belgian side have offered the midfielder a new deal. However, they are in danger of losing him due to his contract expiring at the end of June.
Indeed, it is claimed that Cimirot would rather move on to a new club, rather than accept the new terms offered to him by Standard Liege, which would see him take a 30% pay cut.
Gojko Cimirot is a Bosnian international footballer, who currently plays for, as outlined above, Standard Liege.
Currently 30-years-old, he has been with his current club for five years, having joined them in January 2018.
Crucially, this means that Kompany will have came across Cimirot when manager at Anderlecht.
During his time at Standard Liege, Cimirot has been a regular in the defensive midfield department, and so far, he has made 198 appearances for the club.
Prior to signing for Standard Liege, Cimirot played for clubs such as PAOK Salonika, FK Sarajevo, and Leotar Trebinje.
Cimirot has also earned 51 caps for the Bosnian national team throughout his career.
Would Gojko Cimirot be a good signing for Burnley?
It's hard to say given he has played his football in Belgium for the best years of his career.
On the one hand, Burnley had great success in that market last season, but, the Premier League is a different beast to the Championship.
I think the encouraging thing about this link is that it is likely coming from Vincent Kompany and that Cimirot will be a player whom he is familiar with.
At 30, he is also an experienced head, and on a free transfer, it is arguably a signing that carries very little risk.