Crystal Palace and West Ham in the Hunt for Relegated Star

Crystal Palace and West Ham will reportedly go into a bidding way for Burnley’s Dwight McNeil; the bidding will open at £10m for McNeil.

Relegation always comes with a high turnover of players and staff. As Burnley embarks on a season in the Championship, it may feel like an end of an era at the club.

With manager Sean Dyche sacked last campaign after being in charge of the club for 10 years and captain Ben Mee along with Aaron Lennon, Dale Stephens, Eric Pieters, Nick Pope and James Tarkowski all leaving, another stalwart of the Clarets is also looking like he will soon be departing Turf Moor.

According to the Sun:

"Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira wants to sign Dwight McNeil from Burnley.West Ham also admire 22-year-old McNeil but the Clarets are likely to want more than the £10m the London clubs would be ready to pay."

Crystal Palace and West Ham target: Dwight McNeil

McNeil was part of Manchester United’s academy, however, since joining Burnley at the age of 14 he has only played for the Clarets. He has made 147 appearances for the side, scoring 7 goals and creating 17 assists.

He has also represented England U21s 10 times and made 6 appearances for England U20s. He scored once for his country, which came in an outing against Guatemala.

McNeil was born in Rochdale and a move to London would be a big one for the relatively young player. Both Crystal Palace and West Ham would see him as a player for the future and the two clubs are known for giving English players a chance in their respective first teams.

The Hammers signed Jarrod Bowen from Hull back in 2020 and he has flourished for them, scoring 21 goals in 87 appearances, also earning his England national team call-up, and now has 4 England caps.

Crystal Palace, at Selhurst Park, took Conor Gallagher on loan from Chelsea last season. Gallagher starred for the Eagles and now also has 4 England caps to his name. He was one of the standout outfielders last term, if not, their most important player.

Could Be McNeil’s Chance to Get Into the England Setup Again

McNeil has already been part of the England setup at the youth level and you never know a chance in the Premier League at Palace and West Ham may be a springboard for the player to earn a senior call-up in Gareth Southgate’s side.

He has shown he can perform in the Premier League and will not have much chance at getting a phone call from Southgate if he is still in the Championship. McNeil must push for a move to the Premier League for the sake of his career.

Does Burnley need to sell McNeil?

Burnley will be looking to sell with the financial issues that relegation has caused them. However, it is not all doom and gloom for the Lancashire side.

The new manager, Vincent Kompany, has already started rebuilding the side by signing: Scott Twine from MK Dons, Lukas Jensen on loan from Accrington Stanley, and Luke McNally arrived from Oxford United. CJ Egan-Riley and Taylor Harwood-Bellis have both signed from Kompany’s old club Manchester City.

Burnley is looking to the future with these signings and letting McNeil leave will help Kompany fund the club’s rebuild as they challenge in the EFL Championship next season.