The fact that Defour is featuring so prominently in the friendlies makes me think it's not such a sure thing that he's on his way. What do we reckon...is Defour going to be with us for the coming season? I hope so!

Yes, I think so.
They've kissed and made up.
I don't think SD would have wasted time on giving a player so much time on the pitch if he was on his way.

I really hope so. We've got Defour, Stephen Defour...

Great news if true.

Dunno why he hasn't featured so much, whether its his attitude (and he's now addressed that), or SD's opinion was that he was a `luxury player` and therefore couldn't be carried, but we all want this type of exciting, quality midfielder here. If we let him go elsewhere, we'd only be crying out for more of the same.

Defours not stupid. He has to prove his fitness to Dyche if he wants to stay or to prospective new employers -otherwise he'd struggle to get a decent contract again.

I really hope we get to see a fit Defour working as a team player.

Arguably, a fully fit and motivated Defour is better than most in the PL. Only the top sides can say they have a better midfielder.

As we are competing with the likes of Huddersfield, Brighton, Watford, Swansea (Gylfi will be gone), Bournemouth etc. he's better than anything they have.

Unless played wide....

Best player in this team. Be fantastic if we kept him - and then played him in his actual position

hes not had a good game in any of the friendlies...YET

He does seem to be playing in most friendlies, hope hes saving himself for the PL, we havnt seen the best of him yet but he certainly looks a lot fitter now, really hope he and andre stay

after only a couple of matches for us he was back in the Belgian squad. with it being a world cup year he knows he has to perform.

Goalposts wrote:hes not had a good game in any of the friendlies...YET

Man Of The Match in Ireland.

And tremendous at Alfreton.

good player. hope he stays but he knows [like every other player] that he's in the shop window, even in friendlies.

I would personally move him on. Not fit enough and needs to much time on the ball to make an impact at this level, he is forever getting caught in possession.

Good body language today when he posed for pics before getting on the coach! I thought he was very industrious today but the usual flair wasn't so evident.

UTC!

Goalposts wrote:hes not had a good game in any of the friendlies...YET

Best player on the pitch in Ireland and was excellent at Alfreton by all accounts. Didn't impress today though.

Him and Walters were anonymous today unfortunately

Top Claret wrote:I would personally move him on. Not fit enough and needs to much time on the ball to make an impact at this level, he is forever getting caught in possession.

Alternatively he just needs to adjust to the higher tempo/speed of the English game.

It took Ozil a season to adjust and Arsenal fans wanted him gone too during that first season.
Some players just take a while and Defour has been injured and wasn't up to speed when he joined.

Top Claret wrote:I would personally move him on. Not fit enough and needs to much time on the ball to make an impact at this level, he is forever getting caught in possession.

So a player who's made over 50 appearances for Belgium isn't good enough?

I suppose with quality English players such as Gareth Barry to pick from the national team will go far.

dyche fit defour would send a shiver down any defenders spine

Top Claret wrote:I would personally move him on. Not fit enough and needs to much time on the ball to make an impact at this level, he is forever getting caught in possession.

Nonsense. Absolute nonsense. Gives the ball away less than any of our attacking players. 1st half v Stoke - didn't give the ball away once, and touched the ball probably more than anyone in the attacking half (got subbed early second half).

In the centre of the pitch he is head and shoulders above everyone else at the club, in terms of getting hold of the ball and doing something with it.

I think Terry Venables or Glenn Hoddle would be salivating at having Defour at their disposal at club level.

Imagine Defour in a Christmas Tree formation

Looking forward to his mom performance on Saturday v Hannover.Defour is a class act and will be great for us this year.

Top Claret wrote:I would personally move him on. Not fit enough and needs to much time on the ball to make an impact at this level, he is forever getting caught in possession.

Lets stay with the topic - this thread is about Defour.

burnley007 wrote:Him and Walters were anonymous today unfortunately

I'd agree with that but again we have to realise it was no more than a training session. It's good to highlight players such as Brady & Defour in pre-season, and they have been good previously, but nothing will count until they are fit and ready to go in two weeks time.

Let's see which player then is the first to get his own thread on here after a league game to allow posters to criticise him.

I'll hedge a bet at Walters.

Goalposts wrote:hes not had a good game in any of the friendlies...YET

Take it you weren't in Ireland then

Steve-Harpers-perm wrote:I'll hedge a bet at Walters.

very likely given I think he could be a very astute signing

His Mrs, Ornella, has shared 2 Belgium newspaper articles on her SnapChat this morning with the caption "Good Luck <3".

Article 1: "Defour impresses at Burnley and thinks no longer to a transfer"

Article 2: "What do you mean a transfer? Steven Defour looks fitter than ever and ran in his last exhibition match 13 kilometres"

I know the speculation about him leaving has died down recently and he does look happy to be getting game time, but I feel there are still a few posters on here who feel that he won't be with us come the end of the window.

It is nothing official, but a good enough indicator for me to believe he is committed.

MarkGreen wrote: Article 2: "What do you mean a transfer? Steven Defour looks fitter than ever and ran in his last exhibition match 13 kilometres"

For context, George Boyd covered an average of 12km per game

https://talksport.com/football/premier- ... 01415?p=14

Any links to the articles?

Tall Paul wrote:Any links to the articles?

They were just images she screenshotted so I couldnt link. However, I managed to find them since.

Article 1: http://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/dmf20170803_03000473

Article 2: https://www.voetbalkrant.com/nl/nieuws/ ... reiding-af

You will need to translate the pages! Also the second link is a load of tosh and takes a lifetime to load

I thought he was on his way (as I'm sure most of us did). However, seeing him getting good game time in the friendlies and looking much fitter makes me think he's going to be a big part of this coming season. I hope so anyway.

At this stage he looks a certainty to start at Chelsea. I am pleasantly surprised as I thought he was done here.

Lets hope he can perform as well as we all know he can.

He was brilliant last season in a midfield five during that purple patch.

Then an injury or two and the formula changed. Dyche clearly rates him but can't play him in a four at this level if he's not fully fit.

Fully fit, positive and in his main position then he has to start. As pointed out above, he's wasted on the wing.

If Saturday is the day that we see the majority of the line-up that will start against Chelsea, will Defour feature given he played the full 90 mines on Tuesday?

I think he's concentrating more on getting match fit during pre-season than anything else. He played ok on Tuesday night but not spectacular; however he put in a real shift for the whole 90 minutes. He was puffing a bit at half time. He's clearly working hard and it shows because his body shape is different to last season. He looks like he's lost about a stone! He looked mobile and ready to compete. That's what we need. His quality will shine through, but his fitness is the most important thing right now, nothing else matters.

I just hope that he stays fit so we have as many options as possible for this season.

If he can remain injury fee and keep his form going, then he'll be a hell of an asset.

is he still sucking in 40 a day, or has Dyche had him drop the habit?

Perhaps he vapes!

Imagine the meltdown on here next summer when Everton bid 20 million for him

Nothing less than £40 million next summer will do for him.

If they're bidding that it means he's had a brilliant season and we have likely stayed up. I'll take that

I was one who thought he'd be gone (body language terrible). However,I would love to be proved wrong.

After Brady and Ward I thought Defour was one of the better players on Tuesday.