Burnley now table €750k offer for box-to-box midfielder likened to McGinn

Clarets eye new targets as Boro win Whittaker race

The Clarets kept the pressure on Leeds United and Sheffield United with their emphatic 5-0 victory against Plymouth Argyle last time out, now sitting just two points adrift of the Championship’s automatic promotion places. Scott Parker’s side are faring well in their bid to instantly return to the Premier League, but they remain interested in new options to strengthen their promotion hopes.

Plymouth’s Morgan Whittaker is one of the attackers being pursued by the Championship promotion-hopefuls, and there is seemingly a good chance he could be on the move this month, having failed to show up for his side’s most recent 5-0 drubbing.

The winger was one of Argyle’s best players in the second tier last season, picking up 19 goals and eight assists, which indicates he has the creative spark that Parker is looking for, but Middlesbrough are now leading that race.

With that in mind, Whittaker is not the only attacker on the shortlist for Burnley, with Foot Mercato journalist Santi Aouna revealing they have now made a €750,000 (£632k) offer for Paris Saint-Germain’s Ayman Kari, also including a 35% resale clause.

The Clarets have also offered Kari a four-and-a-half-year contract in a bid to tempt him to Turf Moor, with Parker clearly keen on bringing in another attacking midfielder this month.

What Kari could offer Burnley

The 20-year-old is yet to prove himself in England in the same way as Whittaker, but he has had a taste of first-team football in France, making 14 appearances for Ligue 1 side FC Lorient last season.

Since returning to PSG, however, the youngster has been unable to force his way into the star-studded team at the Parc des Princes, so it could make sense for him to join a club where he is much more likely to get first-team football.

If the bid is accepted and the Frenchman is able to hit the ground running in England, there are signs he could be a real creative force for Burnley in midfield. Talent scout Jacek Kulig lists the youngster as a “box to box” midfielder with excellent “natural fitness” and thus the “perfect player for a high-intensity and pressing team”. With that in mind, it’s perhaps no surprise that stats site FBRef list McGinn as similar in playstyle.

It would be a risk to sign Kari, given that he is yet to prove himself at senior level, but considering he could move to Turf Moor for just £630k, it may well be a gamble worth taking.