Burnley are looking to bring in their former striker, Jay Rodriguez from the relegated West Brom this summer. Sean Dyche tried to sign the 28-year-old this time last year but could not agree to personal terms, allowing the Baggies to sign him from Southampton. Now, Burnley have a better chance of getting him following Albion’s relegation to the EFL Championship.
It is also being reported that Rodriguez will cost the Clarets around £20m, £5m more than the club record transfer of Chris Wood from Leeds United. Dyche will need the necessary spending bag in order to put in a decent run in the UEFA Europa League next term.
Burnley are coming off their best season in the English top-flight, having qualified for Europe and quite deservedly being called the ‘best of the rest’. They upstaged Everton and Leicester City to the 7th spot of the points table. Sean Dyche’s brilliant defensive structure has worked wonders this season and building on this success is the right way forward.
Rodriguez certainly fits the bill after his stunning displays for West Brom in the late stages of the 2017/18 campaign and Burnley can certainly take a punt at the player.
He stood out from the rest amongst a relegation guaranteed West Brom side, scoring 11 times and assisting twice in his 42 total appearances. He scored the winner against Manchester United to keep Albion’s hopes of a last-ditch escape attempt, alive.
Overall Rodriguez is well vetted to the pace of Premier League football for over 6 seasons now. He started his playing career with Burnley themselves and already has over 120 appearances for the Lancashire-based club. He was born in the city and was the only player out of 7 to be signed by then-manager Steve Cotterill to the senior team.
Born of Spanish descent, Rodriguez broke into the scene after impressing in his debut Premier League season with a young and hungry Southampton squad. He was in blistering form ahead of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, scoring 5 goals in 4 games in the month of March.
An unfortunate knee injury ruled him out of international selection, halting his England caps to just 1 till date. The striker spent 11 months on the sidelines and took some time to find his bearings again.
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He was eventually sold off by the Saints for £12m and Rodriguez managed to stop the declining curve at the Hawthorns. Dyche should definitely go all in for the striker but will also have to consider offloading either Jonathan Walters or Nahki Wells.
