"A step too far" - Burnley FC: Warning issued to CJ Egan-Riley as West Ham plot summer move | OneFootball

The Clarets’ defender will have a big call to make about his future at the end of the season

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

This summer is set to be an important one for Burnley centre-back CJ Egan-Riley, who could be moving on from Turf Moor.

The defender could yet earn promotion to the Premier League with the Clarets, a club he joined in 2022 from Man City, but his three-year deal is set to expire this month.

He’s been a key player for Scott Parker this season, despite a difficult start to his Burnley career which saw him loaned out to Hibernian and PSV, which has alerted the likes of West Ham United to his potential availability this summer.

Burnley FC surely must earn promotion to keep CJ Egan-Riley at Turf Moor

FLW asked our Burnley Fan Pundit, Will Lancaster, whether he sees Egan-Riley remaining at the club for next season, amid fresh interest from the London Stadium, and his response was far from convincing in terms of keeping the defender at the club, but has warned the ex-Man City player that he could find it tough to earn first-team football in the capital.

Speaking to Football League World, Will said: “Yeah, I think he will leave if we don't go up, I'll be honest.

“Obviously, you can't really turn that down in the Premier League, especially when you're England Under-21s’ starting defender alongside Jarrad Branthwaite, who has been linked with £50-£70million moves to Man United - your stock's obviously going to increase.

“And I think, in that case, for Egan-Riley, he's come through the Man City academy, struggled in recent years, went out on loan to Hibs and PSV, and now all of a sudden, his contract’s up, and he has an offer firm an established Premier League club.

“I don't think you can blame him, if Burnley don't go up.

“But I do think he'll stay if we are promoted. I think West Ham could be a step too far for him in terms of playing time at the moment.

“They've still got Max Kilman, Jean-Clair Todibo, Dinos Mavropanos, and obviously our own Maxime Esteve has been linked with them.

“So, I think those are calibres of players who just have that little bit more pedigree than Egan-Riley at the moment, and with that in mind, it's maybe a step too far.

“He knows he’ll get game time or at least competitive minutes in the Premier League under Scott Parker, and I just think that the calibre and the reputation of the stars that they already have at West Ham could limit that, and he could stagnate and then fall back onto that track where he did with us where he's going on loan to Hibs in the Scottish Premiership and PSV's reserve team last season.

“I think he'll want to keep the good times rolling and he obviously has Parker's trust so yeah, I think if we do go up then, I think there's a good chance that he’ll stay at Burnley.”

Burnley promotion would be the ideal scenario for CJ Egan-Riley

There was a suggestion from ExWHUEmployee, who broke the West Ham link via The West Ham Way, that Egan-Riley’s wages at Burnley are quite low, meaning a substantial offer from elsewhere could tempt him.

It also means that Burnley will have to significantly up his wages – estimated by Capology to be around £6,000 per week – this summer if they want to stand any chance of keeping him, promotion or not.

As Will states, he already has reputation and trust at Burnley, so if they can gain a place in the Premier League, then he is almost guaranteed minutes in the top tier.

That isn’t the case at West Ham, who signed last season’s Championship Player of the Year, Crysencio Summerville, in the summer, but have only afforded him seven starts this term through a mixture of injury and selection issues.

If Premier League football is on offer at Turf Moor next summer, Egan-Riley would be wise to take the option, but complications will soon arise if they don't end up getting that promotion.