2JK1TXT Burnley manager Vincent Kompany arrives to the stadium before the Sky Bet Championship match at the John Smith's Stadium, Huddersfield. Picture date: Friday July 29, 2022.
Burnley: £9m livewire could be Kompany’s own Jarrod Bowen
Burnley are still very active in the transfer market…
It is hard to judge Burnley on the basis of their game against Manchester City.
When faced against the robotic inevitability of Erling Haaland and his all-conquering treble-winning companions, the Clarets unsurprisingly crumbled.
There will be many far more winnable games as Burnley attempt to consolidate its top-flight status. But, they need to keep pushing for arrivals to compensate for the holes left by loanees and create the right amount of squad depth.
Vincent Kompany has been dealt a blow in his feverish pursuit of Dodi Lukebakio, but Burnley remain in the race…
What’s the latest Burnley transfer saga?
According to reports in Germany, the Hertha Berlin forward had agreed to a four-year contract with the newly-promoted side, who were to pay £9m for his services.
However, in an untimely development, Sevilla have intervened and are keenly tracking Lukebakio.
Although the Spanish outfit possesses the added incentive to offer Champions League football, it has been suggested they have ‘significant’ financial problems, and have incurred a debt of £77m.
But, in another twist, 777-Partners, Hertha’s investors, are also involved with Sevilla, and it’s suspected they could help provide funds to get Lukebakio.
It will be interesting to see how this saga develops, but Burnley still very much remains a possible destination.
How good is Dodi Lukebakio?
The 25-year-old has been at Hertha since 2019 and has established himself as one of the club’s most valuable and high-yielding assets. Across 100 appearances in all competitions, the Belgian has registered 46 goal involvements.
However, this commendable record, including 11 goals and three assists in last season’s Bundesliga, couldn’t prevent his side from suffering an unfortunate relegation.
Nevertheless, Lukebakio combined this impressive productivity with a creative attacking threat, averaging the second-most dribbles per game (2.1), and key passes per game (0.9), as per WhoScored.
The 6 foot 2 livewire also ranks admirably across the continent, sitting within the highest 14% in Europe’s top five leagues among his positional peers for successful take-ons per 90.
His former Fortuna Düsseldorf teammate Oliver Fink described the attacker as “incredible”, highlighting his “speed” and “ball skill” as two of his most eye-catching attributes.
Adam Bodsek echoed this sentiment, labelling Lukebakio as “incredibly valuable.”
His directness and output mean he has been likened to Jarrod Bowen, via FBref’s player comparison model.
The two players rank very closely for a number of offensive metrics, including total shots per 90 (2.19 vs 2.20), shot-creating actions per 90 (3.17 vs 3.20), progressive passes per 90 (1.58 vs 2.06), progressive carries per 90 (3.65 vs 2.44), and successful take-ons per 90 (2.44 vs 1.14).
The pair, therefore, are impeccably progressive footballers who provide a high level of creativity from the flanks.
The 26-year-old finished the 2021/22 Premier League season with 12 goals and 12 assists, becoming the first West Ham player to hit double digits for both metrics in a single campaign since Paolo di Canio in 1999/00.
In the most recent season, the former Hull City phenom netted the winner in Europa Conference League Final. In doing so, he became the first Englishman to score the winning goal in a major European final since Arsenal’s Alan Smith in 1994.
If Lukebakio can even partially emulate that impact on Burnley, in the same manner that Bowen has done for West Ham, he would be an inspired addition to Turf Moor.
