No Laffs for Coyle?

Clarets new gaffer,Owen Coyle has admitted for the first time that the club could sell Kyle Lafferty for the right price this January.

Fulham have been particularly interested and were understood to have made a £3 million offer for the Northern Ireland international back in August. Back then the former manager, Steve Cotterill told them in no uncertain terms where they could stick their money, suitably backed by an ambitious board, keen it seemed to move away from the 'sell to survive' image of recent past seasons.

The Cottager's manager,Lawrie Sanchez is believed to still be interested in the player, but it is understood he will have to increase his bid to stand any chance of getting him.

A number of other clubs have been linked to the player. Celtic, Newcastle and Wolves to name a few. It would ideally suit the Clarets if more came into the frame and started a bidding war this January should any offers over £3 million be under consideration. Although it will be sad to see Lafferty leave, that sort of money could be useful in building the squad in terms of numbers. We still have a small squad despite the perceived ambitious noises coming from the club supported by the Flood money.

It strikes me this season that Kyle Lafferty has not really been that impressive and has only scored one goal so far this season. However, he does put in some occasional great displays and is highly regarded by some as an exciting talent for the future. Owen Coyle would probably prefer to retain the player and see the asset value increase but he is a realist and is quoted today as saying the following

'I am keen to keep my best players but, football being football, people will look at him,' Coyle said.

'There comes a time when business kicks in and if a young player gets a good offer that could benefit him it is something the club will look at.

'But I do feel he would benefit from playing another year at Burnley at least to help him develop.'

This probably means, it will be very difficult to retain his services at Turf Moor come the January window, and it almost sounds like the gaffer is getting us prepared for the inevitable.