Record-breaking £8m Burnley FC transfer could have been so much more

Record-breaking £8m Burnley FC transfer could have been so much more

Steven Defour holds a special place in the hearts of all Clarets supporters, despite the fact that there were very few international players at Burnley during the Sean Dyche era.

During his tenure at Burnley, Dyche favoured acquiring British players because it was simpler to run background checks on them. However, in 2016, he defied expectations by bringing Defour to Burnley.

The Belgian brought the weight of expectation with him when he went to Turf Moor for a then-club record sum of £8 million, but it didn’t last long because Burnley eclipsed that mark a few weeks later to sign Jeff Hendrick from Derby.

Defour had a great history in the game dating back to his early years, when he was coached by Sir Alex Ferguson and only an injury kept him from joining Manchester United. However, after that move fell through, he had become somewhat lost.

Burnley supporters will always have a sour taste of what could have been with Defour, even though he was able to make enough of an impression at Anderlecht to get a transfer to the Premier League.

Steven Defour’s time at Burnley was blighted by injuries

In actuality, that was the tale of his career, but Defour’s Turf Moor career was virtually destroyed by a miserable injury record.

The majority of Burnley’s supporters were well aware that his poor injury record was the main reason he played for them in the first place; if a player of his calibre was healthy every week, he would probably be competing at the highest level.

However, that didn’t mean they weren’t disappointed to see him miss every game.

Even when he did play, the Belgian didn’t have it in his legs to play 90 minutes all that often, so his appearances were often short and sweet, but in that time he was certainly easy on the eye in footballing terms.

Most Clarets fans would acknowledge that he’s technically one of the best players they’ve seen play for them in their lives, but he simply couldn’t stay fit, with the most league games he ever played for Burnley in a single season being 24.

In total, he only ever played 58 times for Burnley, but it’s the impact he made in that time which will never be forgotten.

Defour was pivotal in Burnley reaching the Europa League

Burnley’s inclusion in Europe during the previously mentioned 24-game season is illuminating and demonstrates his impact on the squad.

It was the little things he performed, like dropping into defence to generate overloads and instrumenting attacks from deep, that contributed to the season’s perfect storm but were sometimes overlooked by the typical game-goer.

His consistent, strong performances enabled Burnley move up to fourth place in the Premier League at one point, which was unprecedented at the time. He was a vital component of the Clarets midfield.

While he can’t take sole praise for that, he was certainly a key part of the team, so it was a cruel blow to see him ruled out for the remainder of that season in January 2018 when he suffered another knee injury.

During his absence, Burnley’s performance plummeted, but thankfully, they recovered in the latter stages of the season to secure their place in the Europa League qualifying stages.

Defour was sadly denied the opportunity to play in Europe with the Clarets because of the injury, and he only made nine more appearances after his return.

It’s safe to conclude that injuries denied Defour a top-tier career in addition to denying Burnley supporters the opportunity to witness his best.

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