Soumaila Coulibaly: Burnley close in on loan deal for Borussia Dortmund defender
Newly promoted Premier League side Burnley are closing in on a season-long loan deal for Borussia Dortmund defender Soumaila Coulibaly, with an obligation to buy him for £15m.
Coulibaly, 19, came through the academy at Paris St-Germain before moving in 2021 to Dortmund, for whom he made two first-team appearances last season.
The centre-back is scheduled to have a medical with the Clarets on Monday.
Coulibaly would become Burnley’s fifth signing of the summer.
Manager Vincent Kompany has so far completed permanent deals for defenders Jordan Beyer and Dara O’Shea, forward Michael Obafemi and goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux.
Burnley are also expected to sign England Under-21 international goalkeeper James Trafford after agreeing a £15m deal with champions Manchester City.
Trafford, who would become the third most-expensive English goalkeeper ever, saved a stoppage-time penalty as the Young Lions beat Spain in the European U21 Championship final on Saturday.
QPR and Cardiff City eyeing Burnley transfer agreement
Queens Park Rangers and Cardiff City are set to do battle in the transfer market this summer, with both clubs reportedly keen on Burnley defender Bobby Thomas.
The two Championship clubs both had poor campaigns in the second tier last season, and will both be looking to improve their squads and kick on further up the table in 2023/24.
Of course, improving results can often start with added defensive ability and stability, and that could be why both clubs are targeting Thomas this summer.
QPR and Cardiff keen on Bobby Thomas
That is according to Alan Nixon via Patreon, who reports that both QPR and Cardiff are eyeing a loan deal for the 22-year-old.
Thomas has just returned to Turf Moor from a loan spell in League One with Barnsley and could now be set for the step up to the Championship, Nixon reports.
Who is Bobby Thomas?
Bobby Thomas is a young central defender who came through the youth ranks at Burnley and currently remains on the books there.
To date, the 22-year-old has made just a single appearance for the Clarets’ senior team.
This came in 2020/21, with Thomas starting and playing a full 90 minutes in a 2-0 win over Millwall in the EFL Cup.
The young defender has gained senior experience elsewhere in the EFL in recent seasons, though.
In 2020/21, for example, Thomas made 21 appearances in League Two during a spell with Barrow AFC.
Furthermore, last season, he stepped up to League One, making 19 third tier appearances for Bristol Rovers before making 25 for Barnsley as they reached the play-off final.
The next logical step for Thomas would indeed be a move to the Championship.
How long does Bobby Thomas have left on his Burnley contract?
The interesting thing about this potential deal is that currently, Bobby Thomas’ contract at Burnley is due to expire next summer.
This is based on the fact that Thomas last signed an extension in 2021, when he inked a three-year deal at Turf Moor.
Interestingly, if Barnsley had won promotion this summer, which they did not end up doing, the club would have had the chance to trigger a buy option for Thomas this summer.
Joey Barton’s comments on Bobby Thomas
Interestingly, after his loan spell at Bristol Rovers last season, Gas boss Joey Barton offered a rather mixed review of his time at the club.
Indeed, after Thomas exited the club at short notice in January, Barton told BristolLive: “Not only that, I’ll level with you, we’ve had enough of him as well. He is a young player and he came in and did well, but virtually a goal a game and he was causing a lot of issues.”
“He was fantastic for us and he gave us everything he’s got. We just feel that in the market there is an opportunity to maybe take a permanent or a loan that can help us.
“Football is a strange-old game and Bobby and his agent will have been aware of us trying to move centre-backs on in the background to replace him, so we can’t sit here and cry that he has done the dirty on us and gone to Barnsley because we were actively looking to recruit and replace him and use a valuable loan spot because we felt we had seen what Bob could do for us and we felt we could find, certainly in the second half of the season, a bit more of a different structure defensively.
“Him and Beefy (James Connolly) wasn’t the partnership we were looking for and outside centre-back where Bobby ended up playing is probably not his best position.
“He goes with our good wishes and hopefully, he plays as well for Barnsley as he did for us.”
It will certainly be interesting to see if either QPR or Cardiff can make any progress on this deal as the Championship season approaches.
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