Burnley FC: Scott Parker must unleash forgotten £15m man to boost promotion hopes - View | OneFootball

Signed form Genk last season, the lesser-spotted Mike Trésor is back in training at Burnley and Scott Parker should use him to his advantage

The name Mike Trésor won't mean that much to Burnley fans, as they haven't seen nearly enough of him since he moved to Turf Moor in September 2023.

His debut season in the North West certainly won't live long in the memory as he struggled to make any meaningful impression on a side who were struggling for form, despite being the big-name summer arrival and the man the Clarets chased all summer.

He made a modest 16 league appearances for Burnley last season - mostly off the bench - failing to contribute to a single goal across the entire season, prompting most Burnley fans to question what on earth they had spent the best part of £15m on.

The strangest part of Trésor's move, which was initially a loan, was made permanent in October 2023 after he played just five games for the club, triggering a mandatory buy clause within the initial deal.

Looking back now, the Burnley board must surely be thinking how on earth their marquee summer signing has become a shadow of the player they thought they'd signed, and with muted interest in him over the summer, Trésor remains a Burnley player for now.

Burnley can make use of Trésor in the meantime

A couple of potential summer moves never materialised and the Belgian returned to the club over the summer, perhaps reluctantly, but he is training with the rest of the team and available for selection if need be.

Match fitness is a glaring issue for a man who has completed 90 minutes just once in the last year, but even some cameo appearances from the bench wouldn't go amiss, particularly given how difficult the Clarets are finding it to score goals at the moment.

Trésor arrived at Burnley with a great pedigree on the continent, and as the old footballing adage goes - "you never lose it" - so it would be amiss to suggest he won't have any impact on the Clarets' season if he's happy to pull on the shirt.

Before making the switch, he'd managed a whopping 32 goal involvements in the Jupiler Pro League the season prior, so the influence he can have in the final third cannot be understated.

The 24 assists he managed in that campaign was not only a Belgian top-flight record, but it was the most any player managed in the whole of Europe's top-10 leagues, managing more than the likes of Lionel Messi and Kevin De Bruyne.

What Scott Parker had to say about Trésor

Talking to the Burnley Express back in September, Parker said he can't wait to work with Trésor, but acknowledged that he may need time to get up to speed.

"He spent a large part of last year or certainly the back end of it injured and there were some issues there regarding that. He went back to Belgium with a serious injury or illness.

"He comes back with us now and he’s in and around it. I incorporated him back into the team with some bits and then he went off and did some individual work to get him up to speed, but he’s heading in the right direction.

"I’m looking forward to working with him. I had experience with him in Belgium playing against him and he’s got big quality and hopefully he can play a big part with us this season."

A month on from those initial quotes, Trésor has a month's training under his belt with no reported new injury concerns, but having not featured in any U21 or reserve games, match sharpness remains an issue.

Beggars can't be choosers in the position Burnley are in currently, without a goal from open play in their last three matches, so Parker's hand may be forced a little to finally unleash Trésor in the Championship, even if it's just off the bench, starting with this weekend's trip to Sheffield Wednesday.

It's another selection headache Parker faces ahead of the weekend, this time a welcome one, as he seeks to guide Burnley back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.