Burnley FC contract stand-off may be hindered by Ben Mee, James Tarkowski evidence | OneFootball

CJ Egan-Riley may look at James Tarkowski and Ben Mee's success since leaving Burnley as a reason to leave

While a promotion battle takes precedence for Burnley this season, a series of contractual issues off the pitch continue to rumble on in the background.

Fortunately for Scott Parker's side, those issues don't look to have had a detrimental impact on their promotion push as the Clarets continue to push the top two in the Championship.

It's hard to look past the glaring contractual issues at Turf Moor though, and although Josh Brownhill is the one player dominating the headlines as his deal enters its final few months, there's at least one other player who Burnley fans are desperate to see put pen to paper.

That man is CJ Egan-Riley, who has been absolutely phenomenal in what has been his breakout season at Turf Moor, but unfortunately for the club, his emergence has come in the final year of his deal, which is far from ideal.

Other clubs will be looking at his exploits this season and thinking they fancy a bit of that for free in the summer, but it's imperative the Clarets do everything they can to keep him at the club.

There is one thing that could work against them though, and that's the exploits of two former Clarets centre-backs who also ran their deals down not too long ago.

James Tarkowski and Ben Mee have done well since leaving Burnley

James Tarkowski and Ben Mee were a fixture in the Burnley defence for years under Sean Dyche, but their deals both eventually came to an end after the 2021/22 season and the duo departed for pastures new.

Tarkowski left for Everton and Mee went to Brentford, and the duo have both gone on to continue their successful Premier League stints since leaving Turf Moor.

That's sure to be something Egan-Riley looks at when he considers whether to put pen to paper on a new deal or not, as Burnley have historically produced centre-backs who've gone on to play regularly in the top flight, with Michael Keane being yet another example.

The concern for Burnley will be that the exploits of Tarkowski and Mee, who also left on free transfers, will affect Egan-Riley's thought process if he believes he can make the step-up into the Premier League with another club.

If he does follow their lead and depart in the summer, it leaves Burnley with a gaping hole to fill, as they had when Tarkowski and Mee left, but their historical success in the market recruiting centre backs should stand them in good stead for the next one on the conveyor belt.

Burnley should throw everything at keeping CJ Egan-Riley

As Rio Ferdinand once famously said - put a blank contract on the table and let him write in it what he wants - and the same should apply to Burnley with Egan-Riley.

They simply cannot afford to let a player of his quality slip through their fingers, especially with the club's financial state at present, because a player of his quality will cost at least £15m if he's to be replaced with like-for-like quality.

Burnley don't have that kind of money to spend, or they certainly won't if they miss out on promotion, but aside from the financial side, they need to keep as much of this current squad together as possible if they get promoted.

Vincent Kompany tearing apart the 2022/23 promotion-winning squad ultimately played its part in Burnley's instant demotion to the Championship, and Parker should be keen not to make the same mistake.

The decision is out of his hands in this case if Egan-Riley thinks he can emulate Tarkowski and Mee, but with those two senior pros at that point, the Manchester City academy graduate isn't quite in their category just yet.

Seeing that duo play week in, week out in the Premier League could well sway his thought process regardless of how much money Burnley put on the table.