Potentially available for a minimal fee, could QPR’s Lyndon Dykes be on his way to the Premier League this summer?
Burnley outscored every other team en route to finishing as winners of the Championship this past season, but Vincent Kompany is ready to add to his attacking options ahead of embarking on his first season as a Premier League manager.
Queens Park Rangers striker Lyndon Dykes is being eyed up by the Clarets, according to the Daily Mail, and he could bring something a little different to Turf Moor should he arrive.
Who is Burnley target Lyndon Dykes?
Dykes spent the first seven years of his career in his native Australia and Scotland – whom he now represents at international level – before being given a break in English football with QPR in August 2020.
The 27-year-old finished his first season at the club as top scorer with 12 goals and a further five assists, and has scored eight goals in each of the past two Championship campaigns, the most recent of which was disrupted by a worrying health scare in January.
After returning from a two-month lay-off, Dykes made up for lost time with a strong end to the 2022/23 campaign, scoring twice in QPR’s final six matches and being named Man of the Match by WhoScored in half of those games.
Dykes also has a respectable eight goals in 28 caps for Scotland, but there is more to his game than simply finding the net, as reflected in the 4.8 aerial duels won per game in the Championship last season – the most of any QPR player.
Do Burnley need a Chris Wood 2.0?
Alan Hutton previously described Dykes as a “focal point” that one of his previous clubs, Rangers, could have done with at a time they were being linked with the striker in 2020.
Given his size, with QPR’s official website putting him down as 6 foot 2, there are obvious comparisons to be made with former Burnley player Wood, who himself measures in at 6 foot 3.
A career-wide comparison of the two players only highlights their similarities in terms of playing style. Sofascore gives Wood a rating of 62 for his attacking play compared to 61 for Dykes, while the pair are both rated at 44 for creativity, as per Sofascore.
However, it is the physical side of the game where they are really alike, with the New Zealand international ranking in the top 9% of strikers in Europe’s top five leagues for aerials won per 90. Comparatively, Dykes ranks among the best 8% in the next eight best divisions for the same metric.
Wood reached double figures for goals in all four full Premier League seasons with Burnley, before earning a move to Newcastle United in January 2022, so he undoubtedly has more goalscoring quality than unproven Dykes.
Yet, for a player who is rated at a small fee of just £2m, according to Football Transfers, it is clear to see why Burnley are showing a reported interest in the Aussie-born forward.
For while Kompany has transformed Burnley’s style of play in his first year in charge, bringing on Dykes from the bench could act as a perfect back-up plan next season.
