Martin Braithwaite linked with Burnley transfer from Barcelona
According to Spanish outlet Sport (h/t Burnley Express), Barcelona forward Martin Braithwaite could be surplus to requirements after the arrival of Sergio Aguero and Memphis Depay as Burnley take an interest in signing him. West Ham United, Brighton, and Norwich City have been credited with an interest too.
The striker made his name at Toulouse before joining Middlesbrough in England. Then, a transfer to Barcelona came last year during his time at Leganes. With Burnley now looking to finish in the top half of the Premier League table, let us see why it is a wise move by them to pursue the Danish striker.
The problem of contracts
Burnley don’t have a shortage of strikers on paper. But there is a problem in the short, as well as the long term in that department. The first one is that four of their strikers are set to enter the last 12 months of their contract. This means that they can discuss terms with foreign clubs as free agents in January 2022.
These strikers are Matej Vydra, Ashley Barnes, Jay Rodriguez, and youngster Joel Mumbongo. All four strikers are on a contract that expires next summer, and that is a big cause for concern for any team, not just Burnley. But for the Clarets, the issue is a bit more serious because of their set-up.
They play a formation with two strikers up top, and Sean Dyche would know how important depth and quality is. But as of now, there seems to be a crisis in that area. Rodriguez, who played at Southampton and West Brom before his move to Burnley, has struggled with fitness issues as of late at Turf Moor.
He also turns 32 next month and so does Barnes in October. With a forward line that is slowly ageing and players that are out of contract soon, Dyche needs to react. Their only striker whose contract extends beyond 2022, Chris Wood, has linked with a transfer this summer, with The Mirror citing Aston Villa, West Ham, and Everton as the three interested teams.
Braithwaite can solve a potential problem for Burnley
The Danish striker can solve a few problems for Dyche. Firstly, he can provide competition for the strikers in a two-man set-up, which anyway requires more No.9s than an average team, and secondly, Braithwaite can help Dyche relax a little about the fast expiring contracts of his other strikers.
Braithwaite has impressed for Denmark in the UEFA Euro 2020 group stages where they have qualified to the last 16. He only turned 30 earlier this month. The release clause may also not be a problem. The Catalan side had an eye-watering €300million release clause in his Barcelona contract.
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However, Barca are expected to demand ‘much of the €18m‘ that they paid to Legans for the striker. The Clarets were also very poor in front of goal this season, scoring just 33 goals, which was the third-worst tally in the league. And hence, Dyche would know that a shake-up in that regard can potentially help Burnley score more this time around.
