Defour to complete Clarets switch

The Belgian international came though a medical with the club yesterday and agreed personal terms on a three year contract, with a one year option, after Burnley came to an agreement with his club Anderlecht, for a fee of €8.5m.

That equates to roughly £7.4m, topping the £6m the Clarets paid Brentford for Andre Gray last summer.

The transfer could not be completed yesterday as it was a statutory holiday in Belgium, for the feast of the Assumption of Mary into Heaven, but will be signed off first thing today.

Defour flew into Manchester from Amsterdam on Sunday evening, and will now be officially unveiled today.

The player had looked set to join UAE club Al Jazira, whose wage offer topped Burnley's initial package, but the Abu Dhabi club offered a smaller transfer fee to Burnley, and we're not prepared to pay it up front.

Defour is looking forward to his new challenge: 'I didn't want to go absolutely to Al Jazira. Two clubs were interested: Burnley and Al Jazira. I had to make a choice.

"Al Jazira was very interesting financially speaking, Burnley is a big challenge in sporting terms.

"I'm aware that Burnley is not a big club in England. Or not yet.

"I will give my hundred per cent for this club and on the long term we will see if I can go to a higher stage."