The verdict on Burnley's deadline day business following late night deals

Last night, while waiting for news of Burnley’s final deadline day deals, I decided to take a quick glance at the Burnley side that started the final game of last season.

Just five of the starting XI that took to the field against Wolves - Max Weiss, Kyle Walker, Bashir Humphreys, Lucas Pires and Hannibal - are still at the club. The other six have all moved on this summer.

It’s been another summer of major churn down at Gawthorpe (10 in and 10 out). Not exactly unexpected when you drop out of the Premier League, granted, but still not particularly palatable when you see the likes of Maxime Esteve and Zian Flemming - two firm fan favourites - moving on for pastures new.

The Flemming one especially hurts, given his departure - for what seems a disappointingly low fee - right on the 11pm deadline.

Again, we all knew it was coming, but it’s still a difficult one to swallow when he’s not directly replaced. It’s been on the cards for weeks, after all…

That means a Burnley side already looking a little goal shy, even at this early juncture, must now plough on without their talisman, the only guy that looked like scoring on anything resembling a regular basis.

It will also be interesting to see how Nicky Hayen reacts to losing Flemming without another number nine coming in given his comments - “if he goes, I think we have to find a replacement” - during Tuesday’s pre-Middlesbrough press conference.

The late, late arrival of Reo Hatate is a plus though, it has to be said. While Burnley fans will be disappointed not to get a new striker, central midfield was clearly an area of the pitch that needed addressing too.

The balance in that midfield has been completely off during the first five games of the season in league and cup, so much so that Norwich were essentially able to waltz through them at will during that Carrow Road horror show on Saturday.

He wasn’t the only one to arrive on deadline day though, with Igor Julio and Largie Ramazani joining from Brighton and Leeds United respectively.

Julio’s arrival is particularly timely, given news of Bashir Humphreys’ two-month lay-off and Lucas Pires’ continued absence through concussion. But even without those two setbacks, left-back was already an area Hayen wanted addressing.

By all accounts Julio is a fairly uncompromising, yet technically skilled Brazilian defender that is adept at playing at both centre back and on the left.

Ramazani, meanwhile, appears to be the type of wideman Hayen has been after. Less so a technically-minded player that will come to the ball and look to play in between the lines in an already congested area of the pitch, but rather a pacey outlet who will look to stretch the game and get in behind.

Elsewhere, Joe Worrall, the solid, reliable type with bags of Championship experience - the sort of traits Burnley are badly lacking, according to Hayen - was allowed to go to join Wrexham in a permanent deal.

In fairness, the 29-year-old deserves regular game time having fallen down the pecking order following the arrivals of Anel Ahmedhodzic and Max Alleyne. In fact, even before that, it’s not like he’s ever been a regular during his two-year stay in East Lancashire.

But, amid this current malaise, uncertainty, call it what you want, and Burnley’s poor start, he’s exactly the sort of character that Burnley could really do with at this moment in time.

But this is where the likes of Connor Roberts and Josh Cullen must step up.

On the topic of Cullen, and back to Hatate’s late arrival for a second, central midfield must have given the Clarets something of a major dilemma this summer.

Having someone so influential as Cullen back at *some point* has almost put Burnley in an awkward position in the transfer market, especially when you just never know how he’ll return from such a horrific ACL injury.

But the number six role clearly needed addressing and, even with Burnley’s club captain back, having depth is no bad thing.

But on that particular topic, I’m intrigued to see what happens with all of those players - that clearly aren’t part of Hayen’s plans - who are still around.

While there are still other markets open, what happens to the likes of Hjalmar Ekdal, Shurandy Sambo, Andreas Hountondji, Lyle Foster and Michael Obafemi?

By my latest count, Burnley have 34 players on their books. Quite the quandary when you can only name 25 in your official EFL squad.

Of course you have players like Jordan Beyer included in that 34 and Ashley Barnes, who isn’t expected to feature despite his summer return, and there are Under-21 players who won’t have to be registered. But that’s still a large number of players who are essentially being paid to not play.

But alas, at least that tiresome transfer nonsense is over again for another few months, when the seemingly revolving door kicks back into gear.

Does this all feel sustainable? Not really. Is it conducive to sustained, longer-term success? I don’t think so. It all feels rushed and last-minute once again and, while that’s worked in the past, there’s no guarantee of a repeat.

It’s been a summer and pre-season that brought so many questions and problems, yet we don’t appear to have been given all the answers nor solutions.

Has this even been a particularly successful transfer window? Time will tell, but again, ask Burnley fans and the vast majority will say “no”.

But aside from that…