According to Get Football News France and L’Equipe, Burnley have agreed a deal with French side Caen to sign talented forward Andreas Hountondji.
The Benin international shone last season in Ligue 2 in France, scoring 16 goals in all competitions as he spent the season on loan at Rodez. Despite Le Raf’s miraculous play-off campaign, Hountondji will not return to the Stade Paul Lignon and will be on his way to England instead to link up with new manager Scott Parker at Turf Moor.
Reports suggest that the deal will be worth £3.4 million as Burnley set their sights on returning to the Premier League. Also, according to both articles, the Clarets have managed to fend off Champions League interest in the form of Stade Brestois and newly-promoted Ligue 1 side Saint-Etienne in their quest for the 22-year-old striker.
With Vincent Kompany leaving for the Bayern Munich job after relegation from the Premier League, the Lancashire club are now set for a new era, hiring former Fulham, Bournemouth and Club Brugge boss Parker. Meanwhile, with top scorer Jacob Bruun Larsen returning to his parent Bundesliga club Hoffenheim, David Datro Fofana heading back to Premier League giants Chelsea, and Wout Weghorst likely leaving Turf Moor this summer, the Clarets are faced with a shortage of strikers heading into the 2024/25 campaign.
Hountondji was a standout player in Ligue 2 last season, with the striker chipping in a combined total of 23 goal contributions in all competitions for the Normandy-based side who lost out on promotion to Ligue 1. Rodez came agonisingly close to promotion to the top tier of football in France but lost in the promotion play-off final against a side now interested in his services in the form of Saint-Etienne. However, Caen, Hountondji’s parent club, finished one point outside the playoffs.
Writer’s View
The Clarets need some reinforcements after the disappointment of last year’s relegation back down to the second tier of English football. With Kompany leaving, Burnley have seemingly now gone down the experienced route, with Parker being a winner both in his playing days and in his managerial career, winning promotion to the Premier League with Fulham as a manager via the play-offs in 2020 and two years later pulling off promotion with Bournemouth.
Burnley’s international recruitment in recent years has been impressive, signing players from the likes of the Eredivisie, Ligue 1 and the Jupiler Pro League when they were in both the Championship and the Premier League. The club are seemingly looking to continue this front with new manager Parker in charge in the hope that they can bounce back to the top-flight at the first time of asking.
