"Not fussed" - Burnley miss out on deal for former Leicester City player | OneFootball

Dennis Praet reportedly rejected a move to Scott Parker's Burnley.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Burnley have been backed for avoiding a move for ex-Leicester City midfielder Dennis Praet, who is believed to have rejected the Clarets.

Leicester forked out a reported fee of £18m in the summer of 2019 to bring Praet to the King Power Stadium, where he made just north of 100 appearances before his release at the end of the previous campaign.

The 15-cap Belgium international represented a somewhat underwhelming capture for the Foxes, who never really saw a justifiable return on their significant investment and ended up releasing him on a free transfer five years on. He made 17 appearances in the 2023/24 Championship campaign as Leicester marked an immediate Premier League return as champions, although just six of those were starts.

There was little surprise when Leicester opted against renewing Praet's contract, and he has since gone on to return to Belgium with Royal Antwerp.

However, according to a recent report from HITC, Burnley had held negotiations with Praet over a potential move, with the midfielder said to have rejected the opportunity to head to Turf Moor.

It is reported that Wolves, Fulham and Ipswich Town had also been interested in taking the 30-year-old before his move to Antwerp.

Burnley, Dennis Praet transfer verdict offered

Burnley are pretty well-stocked in the middle of the park and Praet has not shown his optimal form in some time now, which has led Football League World's Clarets fan pundit Nathan Rogers to express relief that his club were unable to broker a deal.

"I'm not sure Dennis Praet would've been an impressive move if I'm being honest," Nathan explained to Football League World.

"I think we are pretty comfortable in terms of personnel in midfield, especially central midfield. I think we've brought in good replacements in midfield for losing Sander Berge, and Praet isn't a player I'd have put on the top of my list.

"He played a handful of games in the Championship last season for Leicester and didn't do much for them. He seemed a pretty ineffective player at Championship level, I think the players we have got in the side are probably better and more capable.

"Josh Laurent had an incredible debut for the club, [we have] Josh Cullen to come back in, Josh Brownhill, [Han-Noah] Massengo, Hannibal [Mejbri]- we're pretty stacked in the midfield areas.

"So yeah, not fussed that we've missed out on Praet and I don't think he'd have been a good signing."

Burnley may have dodged a bullet with ex-Leicester City man Dennis Praet

Although Praet possesses a fair pedigree, his career very much appears to be on the decline and there would have been numerous notable caveats of concern had he not rejected their proposal.

It would be difficult to envisage Praet forcing his way into Scott Parker's thinking ahead of Cullen, Brownhill, Mejbri or perhaps even Laurent. Praet would likely have demanded high wages too, which certainly would not have been justified if he was sitting on the bench each week.

He is a talented player, but Burnley will be much better served by pursuing deals for young players who have years ahead of them in their development and can be sustainably flipped for a profit further down the line.

There would have been little prospect of resale value with Praet and while costly captures for big-name players in the twilight of their careers can sometimes be worth the risk, they may have dodged a bullet on this occasion.