Burnley FC told to have zero regrets over £25m Lyle Foster, Ipswich Town transfer saga | OneFootball

Our Clarets fan pundit believes that the club do not regret keeping Foster despite his poor form after links to the Tractor Boys last August

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...

Burnley have been told that they should not regret keeping Lyle Foster around for this campaign following his poor season in front of goal so far, after he was linked with a move to Ipswich Town for a sizable fee in the summer window.

Foster has flattered to deceive for the Clarets in the Championship up to now, despite a relatively impressive Premier League campaign that saw him mooted with a switch to the newly-promoted Tractor Boys last August.

He joined the Turf Moor outfit in January 2023 from Belgian side Westerlo for a reported initial fee of €7 million, and never really adjusted to English football in his first few months at the club, but did play his part in their promotion under Vincent Kompany.

The South African international was entrusted with the starting spot up-front by Kompany in the top-flight more often than not, and registered five goals and three assists in 24 Premier League appearances last term. He was one of the Clarets' most impressive performers despite their dismal overall campaign.

Fan pundit insists no regret at failed Lyle Foster, Ipswich Town summer switch

Foster's decent top-flight showings saw Ipswich register their interest in his services late in the summer window ahead of their first Premier League campaign in 23 years.

The Tractor Boys were claimed to have agreed an initial loan deal with a £25m obligation to buy fee for the 24-year-old, but talks soon broke down, and he remained in East Lancashire for this season.

The Clarets have been impressive so far on their return to the second tier under Scott Parker, but a lot of their success has been down to defensive stability and their main focus being on not conceding goals.

Their attacking output has suffered, as a result, and they are one of the lowest scorers in the top-half as it stands, despite being third in the Championship and still well in with a chance of automatic promotion.

Foster is no different, and he has been forced to play on the left wing by Parker since he returned from a knee injury that saw him sidelined for two months from October to December, due to his poor record in front of goal so far this term, with Zian Flemming playing as the centre-forward in his system.

The 24-year-old missed a couple of golden chances to score against Preston North End last weekend, as the game finished 0-0 at Deepdale, but FLW's Clarets fan pundit, Will Lancaster, insists that the club will not be regretting keeping him around amid Ipswich's summer interest, as he believes it was the correct gamble to take at the time given their lack of other striking options.

“It’s a weird one with the Lyle Foster deal, because the links to Ipswich for £25 million came at a time when the club was being pillaged, really,” Will told FLW.

“Zeki Amdouni had just gone to Benfica, Wout Weghorst had gone to Ajax, there were departures seemingly every single day. In that space of time you had Arijanet Muric, Dara O’Shea and Wilson Odobert all leaving the club too.

“Luca Koleosho was linked with a move to Wolves, you had Sander Berge who had gone to Fulham. Even though some were expected, it just seemed like a never-ending list of departures.

“(Interest in Foster) came at a time when we simply could not let any more players leave. We’d have had a very sub-standard squad for the division.

“I know Foster has only got that one league goal all season (prior to Sheffield Wednesday clash), and he struggled against Preston, you know, he should have scored two, but I don’t think it’s one of those moves that you can regret.

“You can look back in hindsight now, and think ‘oh he’s not had the best season', but we’d have had to massively rely on other players like Andreas Hountondji, who didn’t score and has been loaned out, and Jay Rodriguez who has now gone to Wrexham.

“I just think the overall morale among the fans if he had gone, and it’s likely that we wouldn’t have brought in another player, it would have been depleted so much.

“I don’t think there is much regret. Obviously you can expect more from him this season, and especially the second chance at Preston, he should be tucking that away.

“I don’t think there will be much regret just yet. (We will have to) wait until the summer and see if another team is interested, but obviously, with his record, it’s not very likely.”

Burnley boss Scott Parker has backed Lyle Foster to find his scoring form again soon

Goals may have been few and far between for Foster this season, but he has made an impact in recent weeks off the wide left with assists against Plymouth Argyle and Hull City on January 22 and February 12 respectively.

Those contributions will have pleased Parker, who has continued to put his faith in him with consistent starting berths, and he backed the South African to start finding the net soon in the aftermath of his tough afternoon at Deepdale.

"Yes, he hasn't scored for a while, but, you know, he's been incredible really. He's come off the back of a long-ish injury and he's been...even against Preston on Saturday, his general game was brilliant," he told the Burnley Express following the Preston game.

"He gives us our options, he's sharp, he's technically nice and he's been superb. On this occasion he's not managed to put a couple of chances or things haven’t fallen his way in front of goal, so he’ll be disappointed. But that's life sometimes.

"That's the world we live in as professional athletes. Sometimes you have those moments and Lyle has obviously had that in this game."

Parker has understandably been adamantly behind his attacker in a public setting, but as he looks ahead to the rest of the campaign, he will surely have to make a change sooner rather than later if his poor form in front of goal continues.

Foster has failed to consistently impress this season, and while the Clarets may well not regret letting him join Ipswich in the summer, as they weren't to know that he would suffer injuries and endure such tough form, it seems very unlikely that they will receive transfer approaches for anything close to a £25m fee this summer if he does express a desire to move on.