Contract news for former Clarets at league clubs
We know Ashley Barnes is leaving but, as yet, there is no news of the retained list at Burnley with several players at different levels coming to the end of their contracts.
In terms of first team players, it’s just Matt Lowton and Will Norris, both who are expected to leave, but there are a number of players from the under-21 and under-18 squads of whom we await news although it’s understood that the players were informed some weeks ago.
Other clubs have confirmed their retained lists and I’ve found ten former Clarets whose deals are at an end at various clubs within the Football League with some receiving good news and others not.
We’ll start in the Championship and over at Preston where Robbie Brady signed a one-year deal last summer and making his debut in an opening day 0-0 draw at Wigan. The good news for Brady is that he’s been fit all season and has played in 34 of Preston’s Championship games.
One of nine players out of contract at Deepdale, Preston confirmed that Brady is one of four of them who have been offered new terms with negotiations ongoing.
We have to go down to League Two for the other positive news with four former Burnley players, three of them strikers, winning new deals with their respective clubs. After a short time in Australia, Charlie Austin (top picture) returned to Swindon in January this year. Charlie scored nine times in twenty games including all four in a 4-4 draw at Rochdale in March.
Alex MacDonald, who has been at Gillingham for the last three seasons, has fought back from a long term injury in the 2021/22 season to return to action and play in all but three of their league games in the season just ended. Now aged 33, Alex has now clocked up over 400 career league appearances.
Austin and MacDonald will now have a decision to make as has Dan Agyei at Crewe. He’s started every single League Two game in 2022/23 which saw him score sixteen goals, a total beaten by only four players in that division all season.
Alongside Agyei in the final games of the season was Chris Long whose season was wrecked by injury which meant he didn’t start a game until mid-April. His return to the side saw him score three goals and he’s already signed a new contract for next season with his manager Lee Bell reporting that is signing will help them attract new players.
Although dropping to the National League, our former youth team central defender Edon Pruti (bottom picture) has seen his contract extended at Hartlepool after he made enough appearances to activate it. Having signed from Brentford in January, he started all of Hartlepool’s remaining 21 league games.
It’s not good news, however, for four others who have been released by their respective clubs. Right-backs Ryan Cooney and Jordan Cropper will leave Morecambe and Grimsby. Cropper was an influential player in Grimsby’s play-off games a year ago that saw them regain Football League status. He couldn’t win a place in the league team this season which he ended on loan at Barnet.
Striker Joel Mumbongo failed to score a goal this season for Tranmere in twenty appearances and the 24-year-old is now searching for a new club.
That leaves Oliver Younger who has had a torrid season having suffered an injury four days before the start of the season, an injury that required surgery in early August. Having won a regular place in the Doncaster defence on joining from Sunderland in January 2022, he didn’t feature at all this season. Doncaster confirmed his release but added that he would be invited back for pre-season training.
Follow UpTheClarets:
Share this page :