What Burnley would give for a player who can score consistently right now. The Clarets’ promotion push has been hampered by their inability to convert game dominance into goals and points, with no fewer than eleven goalless draws in their Championship campaign thus far.
While Marcus Edwards’ arrival and Manuel Benson’s return to fitness have been welcomed in recent weeks, the Lancashire club must be regretting the decision to let Zeki Amdouni join Benfica on loan last summer, where he continues to thrive in the Portuguese division.
The Swiss star might have made a huge impact in the race for automatic promotion this season, with only two points separating Burnley from the top two coming into the last eleven games.
Zeki Amdouni stars for Benfica after Burnley switch
After making the rumoured £15.2 million move to Turf Moor in the summer of 2023, Amdouni was a regular for Burnley, who struggled in the Premier League during the 23/24 season and were immediately relegated to the EFL under Vincent Kompany’s management.
When the Belgian manager moved to Bayern Munich and Scott Parker took over, the idea of free-flowing attacking football was quickly abandoned, with the new man in charge choosing an attritional form of game in which goals at both ends are rare.
Early in the season, Amdouni scored in a 5-0 win over Cardiff City before being loaned to the Portuguese giants for the rest of the season, a decision that Turf Moor chiefs may regret.
The frontman is a step above Championship football, but he would have guaranteed an immediate return to the top flight if he was still in this Burnley side right now.
| Zeki Amdouni Benfica Primeira Liga stats (FBRef) | |
|---|---|
| Appearances | 18 |
| Starts | 4 |
| Minutes played | 533 |
| Goals | 5 |
| Assists | 2 |
| Goal contribution/90 | 1.18 |
| As of 5/3/25 | |
While he hasn’t always been given a lot of playing time, the 24-year-old makes the most of his opportunities when he does, with seven goals in 533 league minutes this season, which averages to more than one per game.
With five of his eleven shots on target in the Primeira Liga this season resulting in goals, the Swiss doesn’t need many opportunities to make his mark, with Benfica still in contention for the league crown, three points behind Sporting CP with a game in hand.
Burnley would love Zeki Amdouni contribution to Championship promotion push
The Clarets may come to regret allowing a goal-scoring player leave the club last summer, with no one stepping up and finding the back of the net on a regular basis in his absence.
Josh Brownhill is Burnley’s highest scorer in the Championship right now, with eleven league goals, while Zian Flemming has seven, but with no other player netting more than three times, Turf Moor has been a goal-scoring drought of late, with Parker’s team paying the price.
While they are still in the running for automatic promotion, thanks in large part to a sensational run of 12 consecutive clean sheets from James Trafford at the other end, Burnley have far too frequently failed to convert performances into points, and could easily be home and hosed by now if only a few of those stalemates had resulted in wins.
It’s still everything to play for at the top of the table, and things are as tight as ever, but with Amdouni up top, Burnley would have fancied their prospects a lot more than they do right now, with their attacking options failing to make an impact when they needed them the most.
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