Burnley are still holding out for £17.5m for Maxwel Cornet this summer with Nottingham Forest remaining interested in securing a deal for his services, according to Daily Express journalist Ryan Taylor who spoke to Give Me Sport.

The 25-year-old hasn't been short of interest from elsewhere this summer with the likes of Everton, Fulham and West Ham also monitoring the Ivorian during the summer.

Frank Lampard's Toffees have even launched a loan-to-buy bid - but that was rejected by officials at Turf Moor earlier this month and they haven't been able to make a breakthrough for the ex-Lyon man at this stage.

 

 

Instead, they look set to recruit Cornet's teammate Dwight McNeil, with a £20m deal being agreed and the Englishman undergoing a medical yesterday with his move to Merseyside potentially being confirmed today.

This could enable Forest to swoop, with the Reds arguably in need of more options up front despite the presence of the likes of Taiwo Awoniyi and Brennan Johnson, both of whom could be real assets in the final third for Steve Cooper's side during the 2022/23 campaign.

Journalist Taylor believes Cornet's £17.5m release clause is still active contrary to other reports - but the Clarets are holding out for the best possible price for his services and are under no pressure to sell with four years remaining on his current deal in Lancashire.

Speaking to Give Me Sport about the current state of play, Taylor said: "Cornet is one of interest to Forest. However, Burnley are still pointing towards the £17.5million relegation clause.

"Everton have tried to get him on loan.

"They’ve also tried to see if Burnley would reduce that price but, at the moment, Burnley are obviously not really under any pressure to offload him even though Vincent Kompany said that he expects Cornet to depart."

The Verdict:

The Clarets shouldn't be accepting a loan-to-buy deal unless it guarantees them a sizeable amount of money in the future and even then, they would probably prefer to have the money at their disposal now.

They may have generated a considerable amount of funds from Nick Pope and Nathan Collins' sales - but in their quest to fully back Vincent Kompany and adapt to the financial conditions of the Championship - even more money would be welcomed.

If he's still available for £17.5m, that's a bargain price but it remains to be seen whether Forest would fork out that much considering how much they have already spent this summer.

However, he would be a real asset to have, able to play as a winger, a wing-back and a striker, with the latter two positions needing to be addressed following Omar Richards' injury and Lewis Grabban's departure.

The fact he can also operate as a winger will enable Cooper to switch to 4-2-3-1 and 3-4-3 systems - and as shown last season - he certainly isn't afraid to mix things up.