Burnley have approached Arsenal over a loan deal for their young centre-back Rob Holding. The deal for the ex-Englishman is now subjected to the arrival of Jonny Evans to Arsenal as Wenger is unlikely to lose another player before buying first. The ex-Bolton man has played mainly a backup role in the Arsenal set up and a season loan move to Burnley will help him get regular game time.
The Clarets are enjoying a dream start to their 2017-18 season. In a season where the good teams like Everton and West Ham United have failed to turn up, Burnley has gone about their business quietly. They are now eighth in the table and fighting hard against the top six sides of England. However, the jammed up fixture schedule of January has seen Dyche’s men fall off the pace a little bit and the Clarets are now winless for eight matches.
They have notched up nine wins and just been defeated on eight occasions in their 24 matches this season. A strange number amidst all these stats is the fact that they have just scored 19 goals in the process in their matches. It means they well outside the top ten in terms of goals scored but however has still been able to stay eighth on the table.
The credit obviously goes to Sean Dyche’s defensive infrastructure at Burnley. They have been incredibly difficult to get past and barring the top teams no other team has been able to break their defence on more than one occasion in ninety minutes. They have the fourth-best defence in the league and have just conceded 21 goals in their 24 allotted matches, which averages to less than 1 goal per match.
However, to keep up this good form and possibly challenge for a European spot, Burnley are looking to add more players to their squad this transfer window. Dyche’s men know that their strength lies in their solid defence and to keep their dream of playing European football next season alive, they must add fresh quality at the back so as to not risk a burn out for the existing bunch.
However, adding quality is not exactly the easiest thing to do in this expensive market. Hence the report for Burnley chasing Arsenal’s Rob Holding seems to be an ideal deal for all parties. Burnley would get a defender with good potential without having to pay any fee for the rest of the season. Arsenal should they get Evans, would not want Holding to sit on the bench and rot. As for Holding, he will be able to get some valuable top-flight game time to continue his development. All that is left now is for the Evans deal to go through at Arsenal.
