Burnley Can Forget Weghorst Nightmare With £15m “Handful”

Burnley may have been left scarred from signing Wout Weghorst for a big fee during their most recent campaign in the Premier League, but they cannot let that put them off moving for top target Nathan Tella this summer.

The Clarets splashed out an initial £12m rising to £15m for Weghorst in January 2022, ranking him among their all-time record signings, yet the Dutchman scored just two goals in 20 appearances and was then farmed out to Besiktas.

Weghorst appeared to revive his career with some good displays for the Netherlands at the World Cup, leading to a half-season loan to Manchester United, but no goals in 17 top-flight outings at Old Trafford killed off that trajectory.

Now back at Turf Moor ahead of the 2023-24 season, it is unlikely Vincent Kompany will rely on the 30-year-old to keep the Clarets in the division. Instead, the Belgian head coach should persuade his own bosses to spend that same £15m amount to bring Tella back to the club.

Should Burnley pay £15m for Nathan Tella?

According to The Sun reporter Alan Nixon, that is the sum Southampton are after for Tella, who lit up the Championship last season with 17 goals and five assists.

No Burnley player could match Tella’s goals return (Manuel Benson was next highest with 11), while the four Man of the Match awards he was given by WhoScored could not be bettered by any team-mate.

With 22 direct goal involvements, meanwhile, Tella ranked fifth among all Championship players in that metric.

It would not be too controversial to suggest that Burnley may not have gone up automatically from the Championship – or at least with not so much ease – had they not had Tella on loan from Southampton.

As it stands, Kompany will have to rely on Benson and Jay Rodriguez for goals next season, with no new attacker – bar Michael Obefami’s loan move from Swansea City being made permanent – coming in this summer.

Spending a large lump of the transfer budget on one player is always a gamble, but Burnley know exactly what they are getting in Tella, a player described as a “handful” by Owen Hargreaves.

The 23-year-old’s 17 goals last season came from an expected goals (xG) value of 10.3, meaning he scored 6.7 goals more than expected based on the quality of his chances – the second-best return of any player in the Championship.

While it is true Tella hardly stood out in two Premier League seasons with Southampton – having scored just one goal in 33 top-flight outings to date – he showed what he is capable of when given a run of starts last season under a manager in Kompany who trusts him.

Unlike Weghorst, Burnley can be sure that in Tella they have a player already settled and raring to go as Premier League football returns to Turf Moor.