Leeds United gamble could leave Burnley with £120m deficit as deadline looms

In Premier League terms, Leeds United's divisional rivals Burnley have operated on a shoe-string budget throughout their top flight tenure.

However, with limited time to save themselves from the imminent threat of relegation, the club's American ownership made the decision last week to relieve manager Sean Dyche of his duties.

The 50-year-old had presided over 425 matches as Clarets boss, across a nine-and-a-half year period, but the team's mooring inside the Premier League's bottom three this season ultimately proved fatal.

In doing so, the Lancashire club have appointed coach Michael Jackson and first-team central defender Ben Mee to temporarily mitigate their managerial vacancy.

Burnley intend to appoint an interim manager until the end of the season, before stepping up their search for a more permanent fixture in the off-season.

While comparisons can be drawn between Leeds' decision to end Marcelo Bielsa's time at Elland Road and Dyche's more recent exit, there are several key differences.

In late February, Bielsa was sacked and replaced by Jesse Marsch within 36 hours. The Whites' hierarchy moved quickly to secure their preferred candidate - who had been known to director of football Victor Orta for a number of years - expediting the American's arrival, which had originally been planned for the end of the season.

Contrastingly, Burnley will remain in managerial limbo until the current campaign finishes, in which Premier League safety is anything but a foregone conclusion.

Similarly, the timing with which Burnley have made the decision to unseat Dyche leaves an interim manager just seven games to transform the club's fortunes.

Marsch on the other hand, was given 12 matches - or cup finals, as he stated shortly after taking the Elland Road job - which provided a grace period of two early defeats to Leicester City and Aston Villa before the side began to purr.

Leeds have claimed ten points from the last 12 available, moving clear of immediate relegation peril, despite not yet being mathematically safe.

Burnley's seven remaining fixtures pit them against just two sides in the top half of the Premier League table, suggesting there are winnable matches on the horizon, should a caretaker boss manage to get a tune out of the Clarets' squad.

Eight points clear of Burnley, Leeds are navigating waters considerably less choppy than the rudderless Lancastrians.

Continued Premier League membership is expected to raise an additional £120 million, per the Whites' latest accounts.

Competing in the top flight of English football affords clubs a sizeable financial incentive and advantage, as Leeds have found over the past two seasons.

According to the club's 2021 accounts, Leeds United Football Club Limited saw a £124.2 million increase in broadcast revenue between the 2019/20 campaign in the Championship and 2020/21 season as a Premier League outfit.

Burnley's decision to oust Dyche after nearly ten years, leaving an as yet unnamed replacement in temporary charge, runs the risk of forfeiting that financial advantage if they are relegated at the end of the season.

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