According to the Sun, Tottenham Hotspur are prepared to get Vincent Janssen off their books, with Crystal Palace and West Ham amongst the club who are interested in offering him an escape route.
The Dutchman arrived at north London in 2016 from Eredivisie club AZ Alkmaar on the back of a 27-goal season in the Dutch top flight but has struggled to make an impact due to form and fitness issues.
The 24-year-old made 27 Premier League appearances for Spurs in the 2016-17 season, however, he just managed to score two goals and provide two assists, resulting in his slip down the pecking order.
Janssen scored four goals in his loan spell at Fenerbahce last season but a long-term ankle injury suffered before the start of the ongoing campaign prevented him from competing for a place in the first-team. As things stand, he is not apparently in Mauricio Pochettino’s plans and a move away from the club would help him resurrect his career.
To put things into perspective, he would be a good signing for either of the London clubs mentioned above but Burnley can bag a massive coup if they can get their hands on the promising Dutchman.
It’s true that things didn’t quite work out for him in his debut season in the Premier League but it would be unfair to write him off given that he had a wonderful season in the Eredivisie prior to his arrival in north London. He is still 24, meaning he has enough time on his side to resurrect his career and rediscover the goalscoring mojo.
In all honesty, it can be difficult for strikers coming from other leagues in Europe to replicate their form in the Premier League due to the level of competition and the prevalence of highly physical nature of football.
Janssen’s failure also reminds us how football can be so cruel at times, with players being labelled as flops just on the basis of a single bad season.
Furthermore, he has been capped by the Netherlands at the senior international level on 17 occasions where he has managed to score 7 goals. Now, that is a really impressive record on the international front and definitely not a matter of joke. To sum it up, Janssen is a striker who lacks confidence at the moment and not quality.
On the other hand, Burnley need to bring in some fresh faces in January to bolster their squad. The Clarets looked set to go down to the Championship following a dismal start to the season but Sean Dyche has managed to get his team back on track with some positive results since the start of December.
Lack of sharpness and creativity in the attacking third, as well as the lack of a prolific goalscorer, have been some of the major reasons behind Burnley’s undoing, with Chris Wood, Sam Vokes and Matej Vydra not doing enough to help the team. In other words, a striker like Vincent Janssen has all the attributes to take the club to the next level.
Janssen is a fast and agile striker who is known for his pace, movement, ability to play off his teammates and clinical finishing. Given that he has not played for a long time, it would be good for the Clarets to invest in him. Sean Dyche can consider it as more of a calculated risk because the Dutchman can work wonders at Turf Moor.