Loris Benito (Getty Images)
Back in May 2019, a report from The Sun had claimed that Burnley were interested in signing Swiss left-back Loris Benito, who was then plying his trade with BSC Young Boys back then. Newcastle United and Watford were also understood to be keeping tabs on the defender.
Later in the year in July, the 28-year-old completed a move to French club Bordeaux, thus pouring cold water on his links to the Premier League clubs.
Loris Benito started his professional career with FC Aarau in Switzerland before blossoming into a quality player at FC Zurich. The full-back then moved abroad with Benfica in the summer of 2014 but returned to his homeland in the following summer with BSC Young Boys after making just 6 appearances in Portugal.
The 28-year-old went on to enjoy a successful stint at Young Boys, winning back-to-back Swiss domestic titles in 2017-18 and 2018-19, whilst also impressing in the group stages of the Champions League. Benito amassed 2 goals and 11 assists in 94 appearances across all competitions for Young Boys before completing a move to Bordeaux in 2019.
Benito quickly established himself as a regular fixture at his new club and started 21 Ligue 1 games last season before the Covid-19 pandemic brought a premature end to the campaign. The 5-cap Swiss international has made a total of 36 appearances for Bordeaux so far, scoring once.
Burnley were among the lowest spending clubs in the Premier League this past summer, having incurred heavy losses during the pandemic. Midfielder Dale Stephens and goalkeeper Will Norris were the only fresh faces to come through the door at Turf Moor before the deadline as the Clarets lacked the financial muscle to play the cards in the market.
As a result, Sean Dyche once again faces an uphill task of steering Burnley clear of relegation with a very stagnant squad. Lack of transfer activity has already come back to haunt the Lancashire outfit, who are presently languishing 19th in the PL standings with just 2 points from 7 games.
Indeed, there’s still plenty of time remaining in the campaign for Burnley to turn things around in their favour and stave off relegation worries. While the existing crop of players needs to show significant improvement to recover from a dismal start, the Clarets also need to roll the dice when the market reopens in January.
Suffice to say, Burnley need to line up reinforcements to bolster several areas of their squad during the mid-season trading period and they might as well start with the full-back department. Phil Bardsley (35), Matthew Lowton (31) and Erik Pieters (32) are not getting any younger, with all three players out of contract next summer.
Thus, Burnley need some quality alternatives to replace their ageing full-backs and reigniting interest in Loris Benito would make a lot of sense in footballing terms. The 28-year-old has considerable top-flight experience in France and Switzerland while he has also featured in the Champions League and Europa League over the course of his career.
Loris Benito has just the right kind of profile to come through the door at Burnley as an instant upgrade on their ageing full-backs. The Swiss international still has several years remaining in his prime at 28 and would therefore tick the box as a handy long-term addition to the club’s backline. The Clarets need better players to stop the rut and going back in the market for Benito would definitely be a step in the right direction.