Apparent interest by these two clubs in Defour reported in Belgian newspapers.
Also said he was recovering well and would also be interested in an extended contract with Burnley.

Get your eggs & toast ready Sean

Leave the choice to him.

See how clever he actually is.

West ham will be his wife's choice....

Depends how long she wants to be a relevant WAG for.

It doesn't really have the same effect if you're married to someone playing in The Championship does it.

If he's got any sense it won't be West Ham.

Everton will be re-building in the summer so they're more of a risk.

If he went to West Ham he'd have the problem of trying to work out what The West Ham way is, too much of a conundrum for anyone.

If he signs for Big Sams Everton he will spend the whole 90 minutes watching the ball fly over his head.

Realistically if either of them really wants him, he's likely to go. Defour has never really hidden the fact that (entirely understandably) he'd like either a bigger stage than Burnley before he retires, or he'd eventually look to a bigger pay day.

That's really the price of success - its why you need to make sure you keep a core of unsung heroes - Mee, Heaton, Arfield, Vokes etc. - who provide continuity, and then slot in the stars who are by nature more transient around them.

Realistically if either of them really wants him, he's likely to go. Defour has never really hidden the fact that (entirely understandably) he'd like either a bigger stage than Burnley before he retires, or he'd eventually look to a bigger pay day.

That's really the price of success - its why you need to make sure you keep a core of unsung heroes - Mee, Heaton, Arfield, Vokes etc. - who provide continuity, and then slot in the stars who are by nature more transient around them.

If he signs for West ham we will have to give him away and pay West ham every time he plays; that's how it works for West ham isn't it ?

I know I'm in a minority but I'm not a Defour uber fan. He's okay and has improved on last season but he's not all that. I've seen better. If he wants to face a fresh challenge then fair enough but that is fraught with danger. He may find himself down the pecking order. When he's faced with a truly outstanding midfield competition of the ilk of De Bruyne in his national team, he's got to just realise he's a decent player who'll never reach his potential. I'm not knocking the guy, he's steady as you go but he's nothing special and certainly not the best midfielder we've had in the past 40 years, let alone our halcyon years. I wouldn't be that bothered if he left.

Probably double his money with either of them. Can't see much other than financial motivation if he was to move.

I have a bit of a man-crush going on with SD4. I'd be disappointed to see him leave. He's a fantastic player, arguably he's technically the best player we've had since the sixties. Even playing in the deeper role he is extremely effective and seems to find a great pass.
But losing him wouldn't be the end of the world. I don't think we'd have the sort of reaction that we got when the `anti-footballer` left. (What are we playing at selling our best player 3 days before the start of the season! We are doomed! The club don't know what they are doing! Blah, blah, blah)

We have seen just how good Westwood is in the midfield role, and if SD decides his `JH as a No10` experiment hasn't worked and we bring someone in to play that role, then JH is another decent option in there.

Like I say, i'd be gutted to lose such a good player, but there is certainly decent cover who can step up, leaving us only seeking additional cover.

I can't see how West Ham are a better proposition, other than money, at this moment in time.

They simply have no chance of doing well in the Premier league with the current owners in charge, who are absolutely hated by the supporters.

The fans want them out, come what may, and they are looking for a new manager in the summer.

PLTMGMBJ wrote:I know I'm in a minority but I'm not a Defour uber fan. He's okay and has improved on last season but he's not all that .....................
... he's nothing special and certainly not the best midfielder we've had in the past 40 years, let alone our halcyon years. I wouldn't be that bothered if he left.

So let's have a list of midfielders since 1977 /8, who are better?
I think you'd have to go back to Ralph Coates - but probably earlier, to find anyone even approaching his class and pedigree.
His only competition would be Barton I think, but they are v different players.

PLTMGMBJ wrote:I know I'm in a minority but I'm not a Defour uber fan. He's okay and has improved on last season but he's not all that. I've seen better. If he wants to face a fresh challenge then fair enough but that is fraught with danger. He may find himself down the pecking order. When he's faced with a truly outstanding midfield competition of the ilk of De Bruyne in his national team, he's got to just realise he's a decent player who'll never reach his potential. I'm not knocking the guy, he's steady as you go but he's nothing special and certainly not the best midfielder we've had in the past 40 years, let alone our halcyon years. I wouldn't be that bothered if he left.

I AM a Defour fan BUT I'd agree that in most other PL teams he'd struggle to be dominant and could we'll find himself well down the pecking order.

claretspice wrote:Realistically if either of them really wants him, he's likely to go. Defour has never really hidden the fact that (entirely understandably) he'd like either a bigger stage than Burnley before he retires, or he'd eventually look to a bigger pay day.

That's really the price of success - its why you need to make sure you keep a core of unsung heroes - Mee, Heaton, Arfield, Vokes etc. - who provide continuity, and then slot in the stars who are by nature more transient around them.

I would hardly call West Ham a bigger stage, other than being a London club and having a big stadium that the fans don't like. Their history of success is similar to ours apart from they won the old UEFA (or was it Fairs at the time) cup but they have never been English Champions. West Ham are and always have been a nothing club with decent support due to having a catchment area numbering in millions not 10s of thousands.
Everton are a different proposition but they never really trouble the big six. The only thing taking him to either of these clubs before his retirement would be money and remember we may well have the additional pull of European football next season, which would be an even bigger stage than either of the above could provide.
If we are to show a real commitment to future success and ambition I think we must pull out all the stops to make sure Defour stays because, to be fare, he is simply the highest quality player we have. If it came down to a choice I would rather lose Vokes, Arfield and (given Pope) Heaton than lose Defour.

Everton will be changing my manager, so a period of rebuild with someone unknown.
WHU...disaster area.
Preseason with Burnley...Just what the doctor ordered.

He's still a Burnley player so he'll doofer now.

houseboy wrote:I would hardly call West Ham a bigger stage, other than being a London club and having a big stadium that the fans don't like. Their history of success is similar to ours apart from they won the old UEFA (or was it Fairs at the time) cup but they have never been English Champions. West Ham are and always have been a nothing club with decent support due to having a catchment area numbering in millions not 10s of thousands.
Everton are a different proposition but they never really trouble the big six. The only thing taking him to either of these clubs before his retirement would be money and remember we may well have the additional pull of European football next season, which would be an even bigger stage than either of the above could provide.
If we are to show a real commitment to future success and ambition I think we must pull out all the stops to make sure Defour stays because, to be fare, he is simply the highest quality player we have. If it came down to a choice I would rather lose Vokes, Arfield and (given Pope) Heaton than lose Defour.

To anyone outside of Burnley, they are a bigger club. I agree with all you say about their history, but they are a bigger stage. They get more than twice our home gates (and more than twice whatever we can realistically expect our home gates to be).

As for pulling out the stops to keep Defour, I'm sure we will, but the stops only pull out so far. Seventh in the Premier League with a decent cup run here and there is as good as it can ever get for us. We've shown in the last 3 games that Defour is important to us but not irreplaceable and I think you're wrong about replacing one of the players who created the culture that has got us here before replacing someone who has flourished because of that culture. Our future success depends more on maintaining that culture than any particular player, and once you remove the foundations of a structure it tends to collapse, however impressive the front elevation might be.

claretspice wrote:....Seventh in the Premier League with a decent cup run here and there is as good as it can ever get for us. ....

Not sure I agree with your point above, Dyche spent time under the great Brian Clough. I think we are still on a journey that could lead us to much better things than you can imagine.

"As for pulling out the stops to keep Defour, I'm sure we will, but the stops only pull out so far. Seventh in the Premier League with a decent cup run here and there is as good as it can ever get for us"

The problem is, not many thought we would get promoted under Dyche first time round, we did. It was as good as it got they said. We got relegated and subsiquently promoted in first place. It was as good as it would get they said. We then stopped up, It was as good as it got they said. We then got to 7th in the league, It was as good as it can ever get for us they said. If we qualify for Europe, will it be as good as it gets? What if we got to the quarters, semis? Would it be as good as it it could ever be?

People still underestimate Dyche. If we qualify for Europe I can only see the club progressing further.

Also don't underestimate the fact that Defour chose Burnley over a far better financial offer, and has also indicated he enjoys playing for Burnley.

West Ham isn't an attractive proposition at present. Why would he want to play under Moyes for a start?! If he goes there, he goes for money.

Everton looks an attractive move but i suspect Keano's experience with them this season could put him off. The culture around our club sounds fantastic and he might decide he's happy where he is.

For what it's worth i hope we keep him. He's the best midfielder I've ever seen in a Burnley shirt (since mid 80's) so it would be a great shame to lose him.

Dyche decides when it's as good as it gets.

Belgianclaret wrote:Also don't underestimate the fact that Defour chose Burnley over a far better financial offer, and has also indicated he enjoys playing for Burnley.

Did he? I thought the Asian team pulled out of a deal because they couldn't pay the fee.

No Ney Never wrote:Not sure I agree with your point above, Dyche spent time under the great Brian Clough. I think we are still on a journey that could lead us to much better things than you can imagine.

If that happens, fantastic, but none of us can assume or expect it will happen. Seventh with the odd cup run is the best we can ever reasonably hope for, and perhaps more than we can expect. My point is that anyone thinking we should built a recruitment and retention strategy on being more than that is kidding themselves.

If Defour wants to stay, fabulous. But we're all better off assuming that talents of his ilk will have bigger horizons than Burnley.

claretspice wrote:If that happens, fantastic, but none of us can assume or expect it will happen. Seventh with the odd cup run is the best we can ever reasonably hope for, and perhaps more than we can expect. My point is that anyone thinking we should built a recruitment and retention strategy on being more than that is kidding themselves.

If Defour wants to stay, fabulous. But we're all better off assuming that talents of his ilk will have bigger horizons than Burnley.

Realistically, since the top six have become so entrenched in the Premier League can any other club, including West Ham or Everton, reasonably expect to do much better than 7th and the odd cup run, unless they have major investment?

Always will be a selling club. The day that bigger fish aren’t looking at our players is when we really need to be worrying.

If Defour were to go, and I really hope that this isn’t the case, we would need a lot more than a midfield of Cork Hendrick and Westwood, for a full season.

Spijed wrote:Realistically, since the top six have become so entrenched in the Premier League can any other club, including West Ham or Everton, reasonably expect to do much better than 7th and the odd cup run, unless they have major investment?

West Ham and Everton have a significantly better chance than we do of breaking in, but in any event they can pay players a vast amount more and they are in any event a bigger stage. That's just a fact.

DCWat wrote:Always will be a selling club. The day that bigger fish aren’t looking at our players is when we really need to be worrying.

If Defour were to go, and I really hope that this isn’t the case, we would need a lot more than a midfield of Cork Hendrick and Westwood, for a full season.

Bradys not bad....

KRBFC wrote:Did he? I thought the Asian team pulled out of a deal because they couldn't pay the fee.

Not surprisingly, your assumption is wrong

Well if it's Everton Burnley should insist on an exchange for Sigurdsson and 5 million as well.

tim_noone wrote:Bradys not bad....

Brady, Lennon and JBG are all decent but I wouldn’t want any in the centre of midfield.

Belgianclaret wrote:Not surprisingly, your assumption is wrong

I guess it depends on how reliable your source is, I'm just recycling what was reported at the time. I know the Burnley Express ran a story saying Defour favoured a move to Qatar due to the finances on offer. You have ''Belgian'' in your username which makes you a know it all on all things Belgium though.......

I'm not a Belgian know it all.

Just a know it all full stop

No Ney Never wrote:Not sure I agree with your point above, Dyche spent time under the great Brian Clough. I think we are still on a journey that could lead us to much better things than you can imagine.

Absolutely and Arsenal keep looking over their shoulder. 6th, though unlikely, is not impossible.