Following their relegation from the Premier League, it was inevitable that Burnley would have transfer interest in some of their key players, and Sander Berge has been the subject of interest in recent times.
The midfielder is reportedly attracting interest from José Mourinho’s Fenerbahçe side, following a 2023/24 season which saw the Norwegian awarded Burnley’s Player of the Season and Players’ Player of the Season award in what was an impressive debut campaign at Turf Moor.
Despite being relegated to the Championship, the 26-year-old was a shining light for the Clarets, and it seemed inevitable that he’d face interest from elsewhere this summer.
Having only joined last summer, and with a contract at Turf Moor until the summer of 2027, Burnley won’t be forced to sell the midfielder for a cut-price deal, and any interested party would likely have to stump up a considerable sum of cash for Scott Parker to part ways with the ex-Sheffield United man.
Burnley urged to remain firm amid Fenerbahçe’s interest in Sander Berge
Football League World’s Burnley fan pundit, Ben Livingstone, is adamant that Berge could make a big impact for the Clarets next season, and therefore shouldn’t look to sell the midfielder unless they receive a bid of over £20milllion.
Speaking to FLW, Ben said: “It’s an interesting link, but I don’t think that Fenerbahçe could get the money that we’d surely want for Sander Berge.
“You look at the past signings that Fenerbahçe and other Turkish clubs make, and they’re not really spending the money that we would want.
“The thing with Sander Berge is we signed him for about £12million, but we’ve got to be asking for at least £15million, rising to £18-20million, or if we want to keep him, which I hope that we would, because he’s going to be a monster in the Championship, then £20million is where I’d start.
“If he wants to leave, which obviously we don’t know yet, or if the club were trying to get money in, then £15million is probably the sweet spot, although I think he’s worth way more than that.
“He’s not old by any means, he’s about to enter his prime, so it could be tempting for him with the Champions League football, and they did well in the league last year, narrowly missing out on the title, but I just don’t think they could afford what we want.
“I can’t see him moving to Turkey either. If he was going to leave it would be to go back to the Premier League.”
Having Sander Berge in the Championship would be a huge boost for Burnley
Berge is a Premier League-standard player, so having him at their disposal in the Championship would be huge for Burnley.
The 26-year-old spent two seasons in the second tier with Sheffield United during the 2021/22 and 2022/23 campaigns, helping them win promotion, playing 68 games in total, scoring 11 times and registering eight assists,
However, having already spent two seasons in the Championship, it remains to be seen if Berge would be willing to play in the second tier yet again, particularly with the lure of Champions League football and working with Mourinho seemingly a real prospect.
| Sander Berge’s senior career – Transfermarkt | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Club | Seasons | P | G | A |
| Asker | 2013-14 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Valerenga | 2015-17 | 43 | 1 | 1 |
| Genk | 2017-20 | 113 | 6 | 4 |
| Sheffield United | 2020-23 | 109 | 15 | 12 |
| Burnley | 2023- | 40 | 2 | 2 |
It speaks volumes about how talented Berge is that a club of Fenerbahçe’s stature are interested in signing him, and keeping him at Turf Moor this summer would arguably be bigger than any new signing for Burnley and Scott Parker.
Given how talented he is, it seems a shame if he’s not playing top-flight football in England or elsewhere, but Burnley supporters will be desperately hoping he remains at the club and helps them make an immediate return to the Premier League.
