This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

As part of Vincent Kompany's Burnley rebuild back in the summer, the Belgian opted to sign a number of players from the Belgian league itself.

One of those players was central midfielder Samuel Bastien, who arrived at Turf Moor from Standard Liege for a reported fee of £800,000.

Things have not really gone to plan for the midfielder since, though, with Bastien appearing just 16 times in the Championship this campaign, and only seven of those coming from the start.

With the Clarets looking very strong contenders to go up, and Bastien having featured so few and far between, we asked three of our FLW writers if they think the Clarets will look to offload the 26-year-old if they are indeed promoted this season.

Marcus Ally

It probably reflects badly on Bastien, that it feels as if every other Burnley summer signing has been a resounding success in their first season at Turf Moor.

Where Bastien has not set the world alight, but has been a reliable option for Kompany to turn to.

His current deal runs for another two seasons at the end of this one, and a loan exit in the summer could be the most likely course of action.

The 26-year-old has only started seven league games this term, and game-time in the Premier League would be very limited.

The Clarets will look to strengthen again, pushing current second string players further down the pecking order.

Burnley will most likely try and offload Bastien permanently in the summer, but a loan move could be more feasible.

 

 

Brett Worthington

He is probably one Vincent Kompany signing that hasn’t hit the heights of the rest.

The 26-year-old made a good start to his Burnley career, starting the first few games of the season and appearing in the first six games. However, since the end of August, the midfielder has been in and out of the team, mainly limited to cameo appearances off the bench.

It is looking very likely that Burnley are going to return to the Premier League at the first time of asking, and therefore, if they do, Kompany is likely going to want to improve his squad once again in the summer.

So, yes, Bastien could well be a player that moves on in the summer, either on a permanent basis or temporarily. Bastien has found himself down the pecking order for the majority of the season, as Josh Cullen, Jack Cork, and Josh Brownhill have been the preferred options for Kompany, and he’s likely going to continue being out of the side for the rest of this season, so come the summer, moving up a division could well mean the end for Bastien at Burnley.

Simmey Hannifin-Donaldson

It's certainly not out of the realms of possibility that we see Samuel Bastien move on from Burnley this summer, in fact, if they do hold their nerve and get promoted, an exit is probably likely.

For whatever reason, things just don't appear to have clicked fully for the Belgian at Turf Moor, albeit he has still contributed as a squad player.

We know the step up in quality from Championship to Premier League exists though and it may be that Kompany doesn't feel Bastien is good enough to have that same role in the top flight.

Ultimately, we'll have to wait and see how things go for the 26-year-old for the remainder of the season before casting a judgement on his future, but at this stage, it certainly does feel as though he could be moved on this summer.