Manager U-turns on £15m star after bizarre Leeds United transfer links
Leeds United were surprisingly linked with the winger last month.
Scott Parker looks ready to reintegrate Mike Tresor back into the Burnley squad less than two weeks after refusing to rule out a January exit.
Leeds United were named as a surprise possible destination for Tresor in December, although the report from journalist Alan Nixon claimed the winger’s representatives believed a move was possible. For their part, Elland Road chiefs have dismissed a lot of recent links as speculation and maintain they expect a quiet window, with Daniel Farke already well-stocked out wide.
Tresor’s future might remain of interest to Leeds regardless, given the £15million star currently plays for one of their main promotion rivals in Burnley. The 25-year-old came off the bench for his first appearance of the season during Saturday’s FA Cup win over Reading, going on to make a huge impact and impressing manager Parker.
Parker on Tresor
Asked if he hopes to have Tresor available for Friday’s visit of Sunderland to Turf Moor, Parker told the Burnley Express: “Yeah, hopefully. He's come into it today, he's come off the bench and he’s had an impact. As always now, we'll just keep nudging along with Mikey and hope to give him some more football.
“Mikey's not played for some time. He was out for large parts last year with a real illness and it's been a bit of a stop-start, certainly since I've been here for Mikey. But you can see his quality. He just probably needs to still keep getting up to speed. But you see that as soon as he comes in, he assists. He was around things when he's got the ball. So I was pleased to get him on the pitch and get him a feel for things again.”
Tresor’s reintegration into the squad would provide a major boost for Burnley going into the all-important Championship promotion run-in. The Belgian has endured a torrid 18 months at Turf Moor due to fitness issues but his quality is in little doubt, particularly at this level.
Burnley transfer stance
And Parker’s tone when asked about Tresor was much more upbeat compared to questions over his future earlier this month. Reports suggested Clarets owner Alan Pace was open to sanctioning a move away and his manager was unable to offer any kind of clarity.
“I’m honestly not really sure,” Parker told the Burnley Express when asked if Tresor will be at Turf Moor beyond January. “What I do know is that the club have put huge investment into Mikey and he’s obviously got quality. We need to get Mikey to a level where he’s fit and try and get him available for games to play for us and help us this year.
“That’s the main aim, that’s certainly what I’m doing and what we’re all doing. Hopefully we can get there and hopefully we can get over these little niggles he seems to be picking up and get him back up to speed to help us this year by scoring some goals and get us out of this division.”