Burnley braced for busy end to hectic summer transfer window as Scott Parker chases reinforcements

For Burnley, it’s been quite the ride. Since the final day of last season, just the 19 players have left Turf Moor to date, Zeki Amdouni and Wout Weghorst becoming the latest departures on Thursday.

There’s plenty of big names among that 19 too, with the likes of Arijanet Muric, Charlie Taylor, Dara O’Shea, Sander Berge and Wilson Odobert all moving on.

Coming the other way, meanwhile, has been a further 10 players (albeit one of those – Johann Berg Gudmundsson – has already departed following his shock Saudi move).

You’d like to think the Clarets were done, but far from it. Instead, Burnley fans are braced for a typically busy end to an already hectic window of transfer business.

Speaking on Thursday ahead of this weekend’s derby, head coach Scott Parker spoke of the need to get more bodies through the door.

“We need to do some business,” he said.

“We’re very light at this moment in time, as you could see in the squad from the Wolves game, in terms of players playing out of position to fill positions.

“A midweek game at this present moment in time was probably not ideal for us in terms of where we are with our squad.

“With such a quick turnaround as well, we needed to try and manage the players and balance things.

“Everyone understands the situation though and everyone is trying their hardest to bring players in. Of course the clock is ticking on us and we need to try and do some business in the coming days.”

It’s been quite the transformation for Burnley this summer, who - on the eve of the new season – handed shirt numbers to 37 players.

Boasting an impressive squad depth for the opening two games, Parker’s side swept Luton Town and Cardiff City aside with ease, scoring nine goals in the process.

Since then, it’s not gone so swimmingly. Instead, Parker has had to stand by and watch as his squad was slowly but surely decimated. So much so, he was forced to name two goalkeepers on the bench and three youngsters for last weekend’s 1-0 defeat to Sunderland.

That impressive squad depth has seemingly disappeared in the blink of an eye.

It’s never quite as bad as it sometimes seems though. Burnley still have plenty of talent at their disposal, albeit a lot of it is currently sidelined by injury.

Nevertheless, it’s vital the Clarets enjoy a strong end to the window. Any more high-profile departures would only worsen an already troublesome issue.

Unfortunately though, it can’t be ruled out. Indeed, even as I pen this piece speculation continues to swirl around the likes of James Trafford, Maxime Esteve, Josh Brownhill and Lyle Foster.

Elsewhere, Vitinho’s return to Brazil to join Botafogo was all but confirmed by Parker yesterday, while Luke McNally and Manuel Benson could also be heading for the exit door.

Stoke City’s midfielder Josh Laurent looks like one possible signing, while Jeremy Sarmiento has also held talks.

But given it’s deadline day, don’t be surprised if further revelations come out of the blue. Better get yourself strapped in.