Burnley are interested in the services of Nathan Redmond, per reports.
Burnley transfer news – What's the latest on Nathan Redmond?
According to Turkish outlet Hurriyet (via Sport Witness), Burnley are working to sign the former Southampton star this summer transfer window.
The winger spent last season in Istanbul with Besiktas and, despite the club's wishes, will be leaving this summer as a free-agent.
His time in the Turkish capital has been fruitful, seeing him register five goals and five assists in just 25 league appearances.
It has been this form that led the club to offer him a new deal worth €1.5m (£1.3m) a year, but he has turned it down with his agent saying, "We do not ask you for signing on fee, but we expect you to increase the fee to €2m (£1.7m)."
This stand-off with the club has led to the interest of the Lancashire club and Wolverhampton Wanderers, who now know the financial package required to land their man.
What would Nathan Redmond offer Burnley?
The first thing to note is that acquiring the services of Redmond, a Premier League proven winger and seasoned pro on a free and for wages of just £1.7m, seems like a great deal for a newly promoted club.
The former Birmingham City dynamo has played 264 times in England's top flight since his debut in the 2013/14 season and has racked up 54 goal involvements across that period – a respectable ratio of around one every 4.8 games.
Granted, these numbers will hardly set the league alight, but for a team whose primary goal next year should be to avoid the drop, having a player of Redmond's experience would be no bad thing.
The Midlands-born winger would also represent something of a throwback for the Clarets faithful, a back-to-basics, no-frills, hard-working wide man that used to be synonymous with the club.
It was after a particularly hard FA Cup game that Ralph Hasenhuttl, his former boss, waxed lyrical about this side to his game, saying:
"What he did in this game was working against, ball defending his own box and clearing the ball – that is a new Nathan Redmond.
"It was not cool for him. It was really hard work and that is what I want to see from him, that he shows that he is also able to work hard and to stay focused until the end of a game."
His numbers also bare out this hard-working side of the 5 foot 8 ace, who has also previously been hailed as an "unlikely leader" by journalist Tom Leach.
According to FBref, in his final five seasons in England, he averaged at least 1.39 tackles per 90.
It's the same story for blocks, with the 29-year-old averaging 1.2 per 90 during his final five seasons with Southampton.
With his improved work rate and increased attacking output from his time in Turkey, the signing of the former Southampton man could prove to be very shrewd business from Burnley and give them a little bit of that old Sean Dyche charm again.
