TURF WAR AT TURF MOOR
Huge changes loom as investors vie for Clarets
IT’S the league table which illustrates the constant struggles of Burnley to exist among English football’s elite.
It’s why chairman Mike Garlick is in advanced talks about a takeover with two interested parties and it’s why manager Sean Dyche is unable to compete in an inflationary transfer market.
Burnley, rock-bottom of the latest Premier League owners’ rich list, is a graphic confirmation of the upstairsdownstairs world they inhabit.
That could be about to change if either Egyptian businessman Mohamed El Kashasky, worth £9.65billion, or American group ALK Capital LLC, a multi-millions valued investment company, buy the Clarets.
It’s been catch-up for Burnley ever since the halcyon days of Bob Lord, the autocratic chairman who presided over the 1960 First Division championship win.
Harry Potts’ side defied the odds to rock the establishment, but the abolition of the maximum wage 12 months later effectively sealed the mill town club’s fate.
It was unable to compete over the years with the exploding salaries and huge transfer fees.
Fast-forward to the present day and the £1million capture of Brighton midfielder Dale Stephens was the sum total of Dyche’s spending during the last transfer window.
Garlick, who is the major Burnley shareholder, is reported to be worth £62m – a far cry from Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour’s £15.19bn, which sees him head the rich list.
In fact, the Premier League has 17 billionaires in charge of clubs, reducing Andrea Radrizzani (Leeds United) £450m, Abdullah bin Musa’ad bin Abdulazide Al Saud ( Sheffield
United) £198m and Garlick to alsorans. There are no complaints from Dyche, the Premier League’s longestserving manager having just completed eight years in charge.
It is why he is refusing to get carried away at the prospect of a sea change at Turf Moor which could see the club at last smashing their transfer record, currently standing at a modest £15m.
He admitted: “I’ve never spoken of delusions of grandeur, having massive amounts of money available.
“The club is in very good shape, that much I do know.
“The board have made it clear to me over the years that they want money invested wisely on safe bets.
“But even with more money I don’t think many managers can change things overnight, it has to be gradual.”
And for miracle-worker Dyche, it’s another table which is his prime concern – trying to lift Burnley up the Premier League one.