According to The Sun, Burnley are considering an audacious swoop on West Brom for centre-back Craig Dawson in the summer transfer window, with reports claiming that manager Sean Dyche is prepared to fork out a record
£15million to bring the 29-year-old to Turf Moor ahead of the upcoming campaign.
The Sun understands that Dyche is an admirer of the former England U-21 defender and he holds a long-standing interest in the player, meaning that a move to Turf Moor is very much on the cards for the 29-year-old this summer.
Dawson scored the winner against Aston Villa in the second leg of the playoff semi-final at Hawthorns but the Baggies crashed out on penalties, which ended their hopes of securing promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
The Sun reports that West Brom might be forced to cut down their expenses and balance the books after missing out on promotion and the prospect of returning to the Premier League is likely to appeal to Dawson, meaning that Burnley might be in a strong position to negotiate a deal.
Dawson, who rose through the youth ranks at Rochdale before completing a switch to West Brom back in 2010, has established himself as a seasoned campaigner for the Midlands outfit over the years. The 29-year-old has racked up a total of 225 appearances for the Baggies in all competitions till date, scoring 15 goals and setting up 12 more in the process.
The 29-year-old might not be easy on the eye but few would dare to argue that he is a centre-back tailor-made for English football. Standing at 6ft.2 inches, Dawson is capable of winning headers inside the box all day and excels with his ability to read the game to perfection.
Known as a robust defender with a lot of character and resilience, the 29-year-old likes to stay deep inside his own half and never hesitates to put his body on the line to block goal-bound attempts, whilst also possessing the calmness and the composure to cut out attacks with crucial tackles and interceptions.
Dawson is not particularly a ball playing centre-back but he is an excellent long passer who has the ability to set up attacks from the back with clever switches of play.
The 29-year-old averaged 1.3 tackles, 1.5 interceptions, 3.3 clearances, 4.3 aerial duels and 5.1 successful long balls per game in the Championship this term, numbers which should tempt the Clarets to make a move for him.
To put things into perspective, Burnley are currently not crying out for reinforcements at centre-back but bringing in a quality defender like Craig Dawson should do them no harm.
Dyche is more of a defensive minded manager who likes his team to sit back deep inside their own half and absorb the pressure, meaning that the addition of another centre-back could work wonders for Burnley.
James Tarkowski and Ben Mee formed one of the best centre-back pairings in the Premier League in the 2017-18 season but they weren’t too solid this past season.
Also, given that Tarkowski has been targeted by Leicester City as a potential replacement for Harry Maguire (h/t Daily Mail), Dyche has every reason to look at Dawson as a viable option to add much-needed steel and experience to the backline.
Burnley have Kevin Long as a good enough back up but they need to make a decision on the future of Ben Gibson, who has struggled to make much of an impact following his move from Middlesbrough last summer.
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Craig Dawson has a wealth of top-flight experience under his belt and he can propel Burnley to greater heights in the Premier League, although the Clarets should look for a few additions to bolster their attack as well.