According to Sacha Tavolieri.

Loan with an option to buy.

Madness. Just one step beyond.

Surprised at that.

Surprised we are considering a permanent deal given we are highly likely to be back in championship next season.

Absolute madness.

I literally can’t believe what I am reading

Arguably our best player

A straight forward loan would make sense, but an option to buy is sheer bloody madness considering he’s a proven match winner in the Championship and that’s where we’ll be next season.

WTAF.

Loan with an option to buy seems like such a Southampton-friendly arrangement.

But if we're not going to put him in the team, we need to be selling him ASAP. That's how it's meant to work.

Be absolutely gutted with this but I think could be sensible business. He just can’t stay fit, if we can get £20m or so maybe it allows us to keep Foster next season.

One of the two players we have who is actually comfortable on the right

KRBFC wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 31, 2023 2:16 pm

Be absolutely gutted with this but I think could be sensible business. He just can’t stay fit, if we can get £20m or so maybe it allows us to keep Foster next season.

£20m? I think we’ll do well to get 10? Too weak for this division and not enough off the ball, let alone being forever injured! Magic player last season for us, mind.

No no no no just no - When he is fit, he is a match winner.

No chance

Not to mention the fact we’ll probably be competing with Southampton next season as direct rivals!

WTAF x2

Absolutely points to a falling out this, bonkers otherwise.

As others have said, unless it’s a ridiculous offer, madness.

He’s a better option than Tresor for starters.

I genuinely can’t believe it

This has got to be because of our finances I can’t think of any other reason we move him out in current position

Newcastleclaret93 wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 31, 2023 2:15 pm

I literally can’t believe what I am reading

Arguably our best player

I Carnt believe what iam reading either

Our best player?

Seems a strange one maybe the player wants out

Awayfromburnley wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 31, 2023 2:19 pm

Absolutely points to a falling out this, bonkers otherwise.

It must be the Kosovan mafia again!

Nori1958 wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 31, 2023 2:20 pm

I Carnt believe what iam reading either

Our best player?

Hasn’t really been given a go this season has he? He certainly was last season.

It's not exactly a surprise is it? VK has sidelined Benson and Zaroury for shiny new toys this season. Neither player will be happy. I'd be gutted to see either leave as I think they're both brilliant talents and they offer more of an attacking threat than most of the attacking players bought over the summer; only Koleosho and Odobert look to be an upgrade.

Newcastleclaret93 wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 31, 2023 2:15 pm

I literally can’t believe what I am reading

Arguably our best player

Nowhere near our best player. Wasn't even last season.

Not sure Benson will be up to it in the Prem, but thought the likes of him and Zaroury at least deserved a chance after last year.

KefkaClaret wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 31, 2023 2:17 pm

One of the two players we have who is actually comfortable on the right

Exactly my thoughts, staggering news on the face of it

Murger wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 31, 2023 2:21 pm

Hasn’t really been given a go this season has he? He certainly was last season.

Not sure he was.... One of a few good ones, but I think Cullen won all the awards

Nori1958 wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 31, 2023 2:20 pm

I Carnt believe what iam reading either

Our best player?

Him and Foster yes.

I was under the impression the only reason he wasn’t playing was because he was injured. That’s appears untrue.

Sad to see him go he scored some crackers but he does seem a bit flimsy,wonder how much we will get for him.

To me benson was never going to be the player we saw last season in the premier league, the level of class is there to be seen, he would never be one on one with a full back in the prem, his lack of durability and lack of work rate was always going to make him a squad player this season.

However a move to Southampton is strange, I expected him to go to a club in another European league

A real shame , though let’s not forget we’re run as a business and the investors need a return even if we get relegated . A good half season for Soton and they get promoted could give us a very tidy profit , 15ish+ m fee maybe ?? Would have loved to see him having a go at the more mediocre prem defences ,though along with other “ injured “ players it looks like au revoir.

Murger wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 31, 2023 2:21 pm

Hasn’t really been given a go this season has he? He certainly was last season.

Cullen and Beyer were arguably our best 2 players last season, and look how much they've struggled.

Benson was a game changer. Hasn’t been given an opportunity this season. Which is mind boggling considering how ineffective our new signings (bar Koleosho and Odebert) have been.

ksrclaret wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 31, 2023 2:18 pm

Not to mention the fact we’ll probably be competing with Southampton next season as direct rivals!

WTAF x2

You’d have thought the option to but would be dependent on promotion, I fancy them for automatic, they’re on a hell of a run.

AlargeClaret wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 31, 2023 2:27 pm

A real shame , though let’s not forget we’re run as a business and the investors need a return even if we get relegated . A good half season for Soton and they get promoted could give us a very tidy profit , 15ish+ m fee maybe ??

£15m that we’ll end up spunking on Tresor, who’s been bobbins for half a season now.

Newcastleclaret93 wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 31, 2023 2:20 pm

I genuinely can’t believe it

This has got to be because of our finances I can’t think of any other reason we move him out in current position

A loan isn’t going to give us any money. It’ll be because he’s out of favour, which is equally baffling to me.

Just don't know what people expect. This is how the club is run - he was signed because they thought they could turn a profit on him and now they're going to do just that. We're halfway through the season and his contribution to the team has effectively been nothing.

I think it would be fair to look at this and make very harsh criticism of the way our club is now being run and in whose interests. I don't think it makes any sense to criticise this deal in isolation because it's a presumably good fee for someone who we won't miss if he leaves.

123EasyasBFC wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 31, 2023 2:27 pm

To me benson was never going to be the player we saw last season in the premier league, the level of class is there to be seen, he would never be one on one with a full back in the prem, his lack of durability and lack of work rate was always going to make him a squad player this season.

However a move to Southampton is strange, I expected him to go to a club in another European league

Think this poster probably has it right.

Mr VK said he would be huge! Obviously not that huge!

Murger wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 31, 2023 2:27 pm

Benson was a game changer. Hasn’t been given an opportunity this season. Which is mind boggling considering how ineffective our new signings (bar Koleosho and Odebert) have been.

Who both play on the left.

Worse thing about this is it’s players like him that give me hope about our impending relegation. So important to have game changers like him and the experience of winning a league.

Newcastleclaret93 wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 31, 2023 2:25 pm

Him and Foster yes.

I was under the impression the only reason he wasn’t playing was because he was injured. That’s appears untrue.

How can he be our best player when he's not playing?
I take it you're not talking about last season, because Foster certainly wasn't then

Can only assume we think Benson is too injury prone to play regularly in PL Be interesting to see if he passes his medical?

BurnleyFC wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 31, 2023 2:29 pm

£15m that we’ll end up spunking on Tresor, who’s been bobbins for half a season now.

We’ve already bought Tresor.

123EasyasBFC wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 31, 2023 2:27 pm

To me benson was never going to be the player we saw last season in the premier league, the level of class is there to be seen, he would never be one on one with a full back in the prem, his lack of durability and lack of work rate was always going to make him a squad player this season.

However a move to Southampton is strange, I expected him to go to a club in another European league

Fully agree with all of this.

TopCat wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 31, 2023 2:36 pm

We’ve already bought Tresor.

I’m not sure we’ve paid for him yet. Loan with an obligation to buy at the end of the season wasn’t it?

Either way, he looks like a bad deal. I hope there’s a way out of it for us.

Get rid of Kompany and keep benson seems obvious really.

You can only assume the option to buy will be based on Southampton winning promotion….in which case a fee like £20m won’t be an issue for them and will probably be money well spent if he helps get them promoted.

People keep lumping Benson into the cadre of bright young talents that we’ve got. Whilst he’s young in relative terms, he’s 27 early next year.

So this really is the model we seem to be aspiring towards in live action. Pluck from obscurity, showcase their talents, and move them on for maximum return as they approach, or they are in their prime. That he’s not featuring probably greases the wheels

This is ALK-Ball in action, this is really the first big one we’re shocked about, but do get used to it.

A loan could do him good, I presume that the obligation is if they get promoted?

Very good player but probably the biggest injury ridden player I have seen at Burnley. A good strong tackle and he is off for months. I had almost forgotten about him. How many PL minutes has he played

With so much competition on the wings with the somewhat bizzare “ over filling “ of those positions ( when we had 2 potential crackers ) there was always gonna be falling outs /sulking etc , let’s face it everyone wants game time, and sad though it is to see that’s football. Feels all the more galling that we’ve been so shocking without these two as well . The flip side being VK knows far more than we ever will about putting a side out .

Bizarre but thats who we are as a club now. We wont have any sense of loyalty to players I dont think.
I think he deserves a chance in the Prem partly because if he succeeds then hed make us far more profit than he will now. I also think hes been good when coming off the bench for short spells, he has a the knack of completely dominating a game when he comes on. He just demands the ball.