Burnley's Dyche has crisp reply to transfer talk with Pope for pint joke

(Reuters) - Burnley manager Sean Dyche may have no intention of selling goalkeeper Nick Pope anytime soon but crisps and a pint of beer in a pub during lockdown in Britain could tempt him to allow the player to move, the 49-year-old said jokingly on Friday.

England international Pope has been linked by British media with a move to Sunday's Premier League opponents Tottenham Hotspur and Dyche was asked if it would take a massive fee from the London side to land the 28-year-old shot-stopper.

"How do you know every offer would have to be massive? If they offered a bag of crisps, a pint of lager, in a pub, at the moment with the way things are going, I might be swayed. I might actually take it," Dyche told reporters.

Pope, whose contract runs till June 2023, has started 24 league games this season and kept nine clean sheets.

Asked if the club's improved financial standing after their takeover by American investment group ALK Capital in December meant they did not have to cash in on their top players, Dyche added: "I have just told you what the price is.

"If someone can find a way of changing the rules of the country, get me a pint and a big of crisps then I'll have to try and hang on to Popey the best I could.

"Pickled Onion Monster Munch have got to be up there. Anything steak minded or beef. That would do."

Burnley are 15th with 28 points from 25 matches, six points above the relegation zone, while Spurs are ninth on 36 points.

(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)