Mcburnie on the brink of record £20m transfer
● Sheffield United to land Swans striker ● He’ll become the most expensive Scot
Oli Mcburnie will become the most expensive Scottish footballer in history once his proposed £20 million move from Swansea City to Sheffield United is rubber-stamped.
The Scotland striker, who hit 22 goals in 42 games for the Swans last season, is understood to be on the verge of becoming a Blades player, as Chris Wilder’s side beef up their squad ahead of the English Premier League season.
United have already brought in French forward Lys Mousset from Bournemouth but will smash their club record transfer fee to land Mcburnie.
It was reported last night that Mcburnie was in Yorkshire to undergo a medical and complete the deal. The Blades are believed to be paying in the region of £18m plus add-ons that could see the total sum rise to £20m.
His price tag dwarfs the previous transfer record for a Scottish player, which was the £15m West Brom paid to RB Leipzig for Oliver Burke. The winger had only joined the German side from Nottingham Forest for £13m – the previous transfer record for a Scot – 12 months prior.
Childhood Rangers fan Mcburnie was born in Leeds, and started his career with Leeds United before joining Bradford City in 2010.
He had two loan spells at Chester in 2015, joining Swansea in the summer. Loan spells followed at Newport, Bristol Rovers and Barnsley before the seven-cap Scotland international had a prolific season last term as the Liberty Stadium outfit finished tenth in a competitive Championship.
Sheffield United have also been credited with an interest in Brentford striker Neal Maupay but Sky Sports reported last night that Brighton are leading the race to sign the Frenchman.
Brentford have put a £20m price tag on Maupay. They have been in talks with Brighton for some time about a possible deal but the Seagulls have yet to meet that valuation.
Maupay has not had any preseason action for the Bees so far. He was withdrawn from their squad because of the uncertainty over his future.
Meanwhile, Sky Sports also reported that Manchester United and Juventus’ swap deal for Paulo Dybala and Romelu Lukaku is moving ever closer.
Fabio Paratici, the sporting director at the Serie A champions, has flown to London to have talks with United about the transfer of the two players, and it is claimed that, back in Italy, Dybala will hold discussions with Juve head coach Maurizio Sarri.