Burnley FC: Beating West Ham to free agent felt a coup but hasn’t been worthwhile | OneFootball

Burnley FC: Beating West Ham to free agent felt a coup but hasn’t been worthwhile | OneFootball

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Football League World

·26 gennaio 2025

Burnley FC: Beating West Ham to free agent felt a coup but hasn’t been worthwhile

Immagine dell'articolo:Burnley FC: Beating West Ham to free agent felt a coup but hasn’t been worthwhile

Burnley have a plethora of strong defensive options under Scott Parker but one summer signing has failed to live up to his billing 🟣

Burnley are continuing to keep the pace in the Championship as the top four race hots up in the search of automatic promotion and with the January transfer window open, there is still the chance to bring in fresh recruits.


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An enthralling 0-0 draw against Sunderland on Friday saw the Clarets keep yet another clean sheet in the Championship after James Trafford's two penalty saves against the odds, before ending the 5-0 win over Plymouth Argyle with just nine goals conceded in 28 second-tier games - and it's their sturdy defence that has been the key to that.

But whilst Maxime Esteve and CJ Egan-Riley have both excelled this season, it begs the question as to why one summer signing was brought in, in the form of John Egan - despite the transfer feeling like a coup at the time after beating West Ham United for his signature.

John Egan signing after long-term injury ran huge risk for Burnley

Immagine dell'articolo:Burnley FC: Beating West Ham to free agent felt a coup but hasn’t been worthwhile

Egan was signed after running his contract down at Sheffield United. Featuring as club captain in six of the first seven games in the Premier League, a foot injury picked up against West Ham in late September saw him miss the rest of the campaign.

There's no shying away from the fact that the Irishman has quality, especially at Championship level. 73 appearances in the top-flight and a huge 210 in the second-tier shows his experience, and at the age of just 32, he's still got years left in the tank. But he's started just one league game for the Clarets all season, thanks to the form of Esteve and Egan-Riley - and that means his signing hasn't quite worked out.

Egan's only start against Middlesbrough back in December saw the Clarets concede one of their nine goals, and his other substitute appearances have yielded just 88 minutes of Championship football, with 76 of those coming in a win at Norwich City just a week later.

With Joe Worrall, albeit injured, signed in the summer alongside Hjalmar Ekdal and Jordan Beyer slowly making their returns to the fore after coming back into training, you begin to wonder where Egan fits in to Scott Parker's future plans - especially having barely played since the long-term injury of his own.

Egan's Burnley future could depend on future results

Immagine dell'articolo:Burnley FC: Beating West Ham to free agent felt a coup but hasn’t been worthwhile

West Ham's interest did make it seem as though Burnley ended up with a coup, but Egan would only have been a bit-part player at the London Stadium. Max Kilman and Jean-Clair Todibo were both signed for fees of at least £35million and with Konstantinos Mavropanos as backup, it's likely that he could have picked up even fewer minutes in the capital.

Egan has just under six months left on his contract with no option to extend, and if the Clarets do go up, it's increasingly unlikely that he will make the step-up to the top-flight - especially with more defensive talents likely to be bought in the summer should they make a swift return to the Premier League.

What felt like a coup at the time, has been anything but really, mainly down to Burnley's outstanding defensive record.

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