" Burnely fans want Adam Le Fondre "

" BURNLEY FANS WANT ADAM LE FONDRE "

Friday 15th May 2015.

The natural replacement for Danny Ings when he inevitably leaves is 28-year-old Adam Le Fondre. The striker, currently on loan at Bolton from Cardiff, looks certain to leave in the summer and would slot perfectly into the role vacated by Danny Ings.

A player who has successfully delivered goals at every level he has played at is exactly the kind of replacement that is needed for next season, rather than taking a punt on an up and coming youngster, someone from the lower leagues or, god forbid, Marvin Sordell or Juke…

Since joining Wanderers in January, eight goals in 16 starts ensured Le Fondre ended the campaign as their top goal scorer. To score eight goals in a team that’s had a pretty poor season, finishing 18th, is testament to Le Fondre’s ability and opens up the possibility of what he could do in a team that offered him quality support, like Burnley did to Vokes and Ings last season.

In previous seasons, Le Fondre has already had a stab at Premier League level, becoming well known for scoring a number of late goals from the bench at Reading to rescue points against the likes of Newcastle and Chelsea. Le Fondre scored 39 goals in a 104 appearances for Reading. Ings (so far) has scored 37 goals in 120 appearances for the Clarets.

Like Ings, It took Le Fondre time to become established as one of the club’s main strikers, with many of his 104 appearances being made from the bench. However it took Le Fondre an awful lot longer, with 51 of his 104 appearances being off the bench, when compared to Danny Ings’ 23. However, don’t let this fool you into labelling Le Fondre as a ‘super sub’ kind of player. Back-to-back hat tricks against Bolton and Blackpool in his final season for Reading were the highlight of a campaign in which he finished on 15 goals. Previously in his career, he had ended 2009-2010 at Rotherham with an incredible 30 goals.

Some critics may point to the fact that Le Fondre couldn’t replicate his goal scoring ability at Cardiff, scoring just three times in 21 appearances. However it has been reported that the Stockport-born striker missed the north of England, that his family were all based up there and that the absence just did not sit well with him. Furthermore, Le Fondre was constantly played out of position and in a team constantly bombarded with off the pitch issues regarding kit colours, general Vincent Tan madness and so on, this was never going to end well.

So is this a move that could realistically happen or is this article just a muddle of stats and figures of a player that, like so many of our transfer targets at the beginning of this season, will simply disappear over the horizon? Cardiff’s manager Russell Slade has announced that Le Fondre will be available at a price and the striker himself has expressed an interest in staying at Bolton.

Financial pressures at Bolton might make there a permanent transfer unlikely and a move to a team who will be expected to push for an immediate return to the Premier League would surely be seen as a step up for Le Fondre. A switch to Burnley would also cause the least disruption for him and his family.

However, Cardiff are hoping to recoup most of the £3million fee that took Le Fondre to Wales and questions must be asked about whether Burnley would be willing to pay that much since we were unwilling to fork out that much more on players to stay in the top flight. Despite this, a solid replacement for Ings is needed and a big money move (big by Burnley’s standards!) could be the best way for the board to prove that it has ambition and the fight to return to the Premier League.

Burnley next season will be crying out for a Vings type partnership that took the Championship by storm last season. Le Fondre and Ings are very similar players in terms of size and goalscoring ability and to see Le Fondre in the number 10 shirt for the Clarets on the opening day of the 2015-2016 season would be the first step on the road to returning to the Premier League.

Ideal. They could definitely afford his wages and we could get a decent fee for him if they buy him due to parachute payments.

Seems to good to be true.
Why does the fee keep getting reported at £3m.

I'm sure it was £1m last summer?

I think Le Fondre will be a top signing for them and they have the money

I said this in a thread yesterday, perfect replacement for Ings. Are they willing to match his wages and pay a fee though, or is ALF willing to take a wage cut

I said this in a thread yesterday, perfect replacement for Ings. Are they willing to match his wages and pay a fee though, or is ALF willing to take a wage cut

I would imagine they will match his wages.

ALF is perfect for a team that has just been relegated after only one season in the top league...........

I hope he does go there as it will be interesting to see how he does.

I can see this happening actually.

I can see this happening actually.

.me too unfortunately