McBurnie wants to be Prem candidate
OLI McBURNIE has vowed to use his loan stint at Barnsley as a springboard to the English Premier League after seeing a potential move to Rangers fall through.
The Gers earmarked the Scotland under-21 as a back-up plan if Alfredo Morelos accepted a big-money switch to Chinese outfit Beijing Renhe on deadline day, while Sunderland and Aston Villa were also keen to snap him up until the end of the campaign.
However, he finally joined Barnsley, one point above the relegation zone in the Championship, and could make a quick-fire debut against QPR tomorrow afternoon.
McBurnie isists it is the ‘perfect’ move after being assured he is ‘the future of Swansea’.
“I had a good conversation with the manager [Carlos Carvalhal] and we both agreed that I needed game time, Barnsley was the perfect club for me to do just that,” said McBurnie.
“I’ve had no regrets over the last five months. I’ve made my full Premier League debut and been involved quite a lot in the match-day squads, which I’ve loved. But now is the right time for me to try and play week in week out.
“Then, hopefully, after helping Barnsley, I can come back to Swansea in the summer ready to push for a regular place in the Premier League next season.
Meanwhile, Sunderland boss Chris Coleman appeared to take a thinly-veiled swipe at the player yesterday as he reflected on a hectic day for the Black Cats.
The Championship strugglers were under the impression they had sealed a deal for McBurnie, only for him to join the Tykes.
He fumed: “You start remembering how it was where you can’t trust anybody, you get told loads of lies.”