Sean Dyche does not expect a radical shift in transfer policy under new owners

Sean Dyche is not expecting Burnley’s change in ownership to lead to a radical change to their approach in the summer transfer market.

Dyche has operated under something of a financial straitjacket for many years at Turf Moor with his squad becoming increasingly stretched in the past two seasons.

While several first-team players have left, Josh Brownhill and Dale Stephens are the only recent new arrivals to have made a significant impact on the first team.

The January takeover led by Alan Pace has led to hopes that picture can change but Dyche warned against expecting a major overhaul.

“It usually revolves around finance,” he said. “We are still waiting for the idea of what they think is appropriate. I don’t think there will be huge shifts.

“I think it will be gradual shifts, that is the impression I have been given. It can be tricky. A new owner can come into a club and get off to a really hard start and put loads of finances into the team.

“It kind of breaks up the team ethos somehow. So I think we have to build on a gradual process at this club because that is always what it has been.

“It has been difficult at times. Does it need pushing forwards? Yes. I have spoken clearly in the last two or three years when the club was cash rich, about stretching the finance, not breaking it.

“I think that is the kind of ongoing thing. Stretch it. Get the quality of player who can affect us now, or in the future, while not undermining the good work and financial structures that have been put in place.”

Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Leicester edged Burnley a little closer to securing another season of Premier League football, leaving them six points clear of the relegation zone ahead of Saturday’s match with Arsenal.

Stay up and it will be a seventh top-flight season and sixth consecutive for Dyche, who admitted he had not realised that he had reached 250 Premier League points this week.

But though the club is increasingly established in the top flight, Dyche said he still expected to be working at the bottom end of the market, looking for hidden gems or younger players who can be developed.

“It’s about analysing players, keeping your ear to the ground,” he said. “We are not going to cherry pick the best players.

“We often don’t have the finances, wages sometimes, or fees, it is working slightly under the radar and seeing what is out there to see what we can achieve and being open minded.”

Pace and his group have needed time to get a handle on the club – with the coronavirus pandemic creating complications as most meetings take place online.

Dyche also said it has changed the way the transfer market is working, with scouting operations much changed.

“A lot is being done on computer screens and sometimes the last box to tick is to look in the whites of someone’s eyes,” he said. “Being at a game and getting a sense and feeling on what a player can offer. It is different.”