In the end, the Clarets added three players last month: David Fofana, a striker for Chelsea, had previously signed, and on deadline day, Maxime Esteve and Lorenz Assignon arrived.
However, chief operating officer Matt Williams of the team said that Burnley attempted but was unable to close further transactions.
“In my 22 years of playing the game, this one was probably the most challenging that I’ve encountered,” he said to BBC Radio Lancashire.
“Just based on statistics, league standings, and the fact that there was a relatively calm period in all of football—not just domestic football.
It was satisfying to complete the business that we did. Although we made a great effort, people don’t want talented players to leave their teams at this point in the season.
The lack of a left-back acquisition last month has angered supporters, who feel that Burnley has little choices in that part of the field. “It’s not a lack of effort,” Williams continued.
“We have the option to add three or four left backs, but they wouldn’t be any better than the men we already have on the team.
Charlie Taylor has to return, Vitinho can fill in there, and Hannes Delcroix, who excelled in the FA Cup matchup against Tottenham, is still available.People tend to forget that.
There has been a dearth of competent, reasonably priced left-backs on the market for the past several transfer windows, if you look across divisions and throughout international football.
“However, since left-back is an area we need to improve, the recruitment team was looking at left-backs for the summer on Friday morning.”
Two of the team’s heroes from the previous season, Connor Roberts and Anass Zaroury, also left on deadline day. Roberts and Zaroury, albeit both on loan, joined Leeds United and Hull, respectively.
Williams said that although the Clarets were hesitant to part with them, they would not obstruct them.
Both Connor and Anass are excellent players that you would be hard-pressed to let go of in a perfect world. However, it’s critical that they carry on playing football.
“Robbo wants to play football, and he needs to play football at this age. He has his sights set on the March internationals, where if he plays well in the Championship, he will represent Wales, who stand a decent chance of qualifying for the summer European Championship.
“Another one is Anass; he wants to play all the time. For him, it makes sense to play football with a team like Hull, who have a similar philosophy to ours.
“He’ll get some playing time and return in the summer so we can reevaluate everything.”
Last month, Michael Obafemi, Darko Churlinov, Scott Twine, CJ Egan-Riley, and Denis Franchi all signed contracts to relocate permanently to Italy.
Dara Costelloe, Michael Mellon, and Owen Dodgson all joined Burnley’s new partner club, Dundee, on loan.
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