Burnley FC's ideal Luca Koleosho replacement is currently playing in the USA | OneFootball

FLW looks at the player deemed most similar to Burnley's Luca Koleosho

Make no mistake about it, the time will eventually come for Burnley to replace Luca Koleosho - and his successor may just be plying his trade Stateside.

The 20-year-old, who was signed from LaLiga outfit Espanyol in the summer of 2023, undoubtedly has a high ceiling in the game and has made real inroads to realising that potential at Burnley.

Koleosho turned heads for Burnley in the Premier League before seeing his season cut short by injury in December, but his raw and exhilarating performances seemingly lived long in the memory and have since him linked to the likes of Wolves and Newcastle United.

Despite undertaking a dramatic late fire-sale of many of their prized assets in the dying embers of the summer transfer window, Burnley successfully retained Koleosho and acted quickly to promptly tie him down to a new five-year contract in September - increasing his value for when the vultures circle once again.

Indeed, Bayern Munich have also reportedly expressed an interest in his signature in recent weeks, with Vincent Kompany appearing keen to reunite with the talented winger after first bringing him to English football over a year ago.

Koleosho has impressed in the Championship so far this season, without yet blowing the division away in the vein many had expected. He's scored two goals and added two assists apiece from 14 appearances, although his quality is reinforced more accurately by the underlying numbers - which also indicate who his replacement could be.

Burnley's potential Luca Koleosho replacement is playing in the MLS

Burnley's potential eventual successor to Luca Koleosho represents something of an unknown quantity. According to FBRef, New England Revolution prospect Esmir Bajraktarevic is the most similar player to Koleosho by measure of their respective statistical output across the last 365 days.

FBRef's measurements oversee both the current campaign and the previous season, although the 2024 MLS term has recently wrapped up after starting in February.

It proved to be a breakout campaign for Bajraktarevic, who established himself as a first-team regular and scored three times from 29 matches. A right-sided winger by trade, the 19-year-old's tricky dribbling has earmarked him as a player to watch out for in the MLS, and it's not hard to see why he's listed as the most similar player to Koleosho, with the two sharing a broadly similar profile.

Both are still lacking in terms of their direct production for goals and assists, of course, but Koleosho's electrifying speed, directness and quality when standing up opposition defenders in one-v-one situations is incredibly impressive. Bajraktarevic, it would seem, shares many of those traits.

From the numbers, Koleosho is a slightly higher-volume shooter, having averaged 2.13 shots on goal per 90 minutes compared to Bajraktarevic's 2.09. Perhaps, though, Bajraktarevic's shooting is more refined at this moment in time - 34.8 percent of his shots were on target, compared to a less-impressive conversion of 21.7 from Koleosho.

Bajraktarevic also eclipses Koleosho for key passes, progressive passes and passes into the penalty area, although these metrics aren't calculated on a per 90 minutes basis. That's something of a disservice to Koleosho, who only played 10.8 90s compared to Bajraktarevic's 22.

The New England Revolution hotshot also trumped Koleosho in metrics such as shot-creating actions, attempted and successful take-ons and progressive carries. The caveat, of course, is that Bajraktarevic was playing in a considerably lower-quality division; while the MLS is indeed more competitive than many appear to think, there is still a notable difference between the standard of USA's top-flight and the Premier League.

Koleosho was also playing in a struggling side which failed to carve out regular high-quality attacking opportunities - had he spent the season playing for New England Revolution against MLS defences, you would fancy the bulk of his numbers to be rather astronomical.

So the fact that Bajraktarevic usurps him in most metrics needs to have context attached, but it still provides something of an insight towards the similarities between the two.

Esmir Bajraktarevic would be an ideal Luca Koleosho replacement at Burnley FC

Going off these numbers, it's hard to ignore Bajraktarevic's obvious quality.

If Burnley are to lose Koleosho in the next two transfer windows, Bajraktarevic would provide an ideal and realistic replacement; their profiles are very similar, and you'd hope he would ensure the Italy youth international's absence wasn't too sorely-felt.

It's also unlikely that they would have to break the bank for him just yet too, unless he truly pulls up trees next year. Just like Koleosho, he's still a work in progress but is showing signs of blossoming into a real top player in the years to come. Burnley have shown a tendency to explore overseas markets and snap up young talent at a relatively low cost, as they also did with Koleosho, and that could well lead them to the Bosnia international.

Another similarity between the two is that they were both born in the USA but have not chosen to represent the country of their birth at senior international level. Bajraktarevic, who hails from Wisconsin, represented the USMNT at youth level and even earned his first cap in a friendly against Slovenia back in January, but has since opted to commit his allegiance to Bosnia and Herzegovina, where his family are from.

Koleosho, meanwhile, was born in Connecticut and turned out for the USMNT at under-15 level but is now seemingly intent on forging out an international career with Italy, whom he is eligible for through his mother.

The Burnley flyer has currently earned caps for Italy's U21 side and, should he kick on in his career, he looks good value to represent Italy at senior level, too.