Burnley news round-up amid Josh Sargent bombshell and transfer latest
The latest headlines from Turf Moor as an update emerges regarding Burnley's pursuit of Josh Sargent.
Philippe Clement has dropped the bombshell that Josh Sargent didn’t play in Norwich City’s FA Cup tie against Walsall on Sunday due to his ongoing transfer situation.
The 29-time United States international has registered eight goals and three assists in 24 appearances across all competitions this season, despite the Canaries struggling at the wrong end of the Championship. Burnley are one of several teams to be linked with a January move for Sargent, who is now also the subject of serious interest from MLS outfit Toronto FC - Express understands TFC have tabled a $6m USD salary offer for Sargent, alongside a substantial transfer fee.
Sargent was left out of the Norwich squad that thumped Walsall 5-1 in the FA Cup at the weekend. Understandably, given speculation, Clement was quizzed about the striker’s absence after the match, giving a very frank response.
"I want to be short about that. He sent me a message yesterday evening that he was not available to play today because of transfer things that are in his head," Clement said post-match. "We need to speak about that this week inside the club, but of course it's not something that you want, and it will be something with consequences.
"The club has been really clear about that, we know in which situation we are, so he and his agent know the situation, so he will not leave this transfer window. "We just had a performance of a team that's working really hard, who did a really good performance. I want also that all these guys get the respect and the praise for the performance that they did today.
"I said what happened, I said we will speak about the situation later on in the week and there it stops now. So we will speak about the players now who are on the pitch, that's more important."
Burnley’s Josh Sargent stance revealed
As mentioned, Burnley have been keen admirers of Sargent for some time now, with the 25-year-old often linked with Turf Moor as the Clarets seek out a striker to help their Premier League survival bid. However, Express sources state that Burnley have now cooled their interest in Sargent and will move on to other targets.
Despite their struggles, Burnley are yet to make a signing this January, but they have cleared space on their squad and wage budget with the departures of Hannes Delcroix and Luca Koleosho - the former permanently to FC Lugano and the latter on loan to Paris FC with a buy option.
Burnley relegation rivals set for huge transfer blow
In a similar fashion to Sargent, Lucas Paqueta asked to be left out of the West Ham squad that beat QPR 2-1 in the FA Cup third round on Sunday. The Brazilian midfielder has been at the London Stadium since the summer of 2022 and has made 139 appearances across all competitions since then, registering 23 goals and 15 assists, and winning the Uefa Conference League title.
However, Paqueta has often been linked with a move away from the Hammers, and now, that appears to be coming to fruition.
Reports state that Paqueta requested not to feature against London rivals QPR at the weekend, and that has been followed up by Fabrizio Romano’s revelation that the player has agreed personal terms with Brazilian giants Flamengo ahead of a potential return to his homeland. Paqueta is a product of the Flamengo youth system and made 95 senior appearances for the club before joining AC Milan in January 2019.
Paqueta’s departure would come as a huge blow to West Ham, who are just one place and one point above Burnley, with both sides occupying relegation places. The Hammers are seven points adrift of safety having won just three of their opening 21 games of the season. Burnley are set to host West Ham in a relegation six-pointer on Saturday, 7th February.