Dara Costelloe and Owen Dodgson have already been loaned to Dens by the Premier League team.
Burnley‘s partnership with Dundee, according to Alan Pace, is mutually beneficial and may help them get some of Scotland’s best players.
After sending Dara Costelloe and Owen Dodgson on loan to Dens earlier this week, the Clarets formally established their strategic alliance with the Dark Blues. According to Burnley chairman Pace, his team has lost out on several Scottish transfer targets, but this connection could give them an advantage over their competitors. “We always look at Scotland,” he remarked. Early on, we were informed that not all players fit in well in England, so Scotland was a market worth looking at carefully.
“We haven’t been as successful as we’d have liked in recruiting players from Scotland so far. It seems that others have managed to take the ones we have liked to greener pastures. Hopefully, being there closer we can get there sooner with the players we target. We’ve missed out on a few but I would prefer not to say who they are.”
Although Charlie Adam was the one who connected the two clubs, they are both owned by Americans. Before moving to Fleetwood, the former Dundee player, who was loans manager at Burnley, made the connection. It started when he loaned Marcel Lewis away for this season.
Charlie was in charge of our loans, so that’s how the lending side got started, according to Pace. Through it, we were introduced to Dundee. Charlie proposed that we have a meeting with their American owners.
“We had no idea who they were, but we started off together when I got to know John (Nelms).” We had the opportunity to meet and converse with members of the club during our summer loan to Dundee. We realized how much the guys thought and spoke like us. We had more talks with each other as a result, and that’s how we ended up here.
According to the Premier League chairman, both clubs will benefit. “First and foremost, the level up there is very high,” stated Pace. This isn’t like us lending a helping hand to someone.
“We enjoy the level.” Compared to certain English lower league levels, it is better. We think Dundee is great and we like it where it is. We’re trying to figure out where this is going.
“Can there be coaching exchanges? Scouting exchanges? Are there opportunities? We use data-driven processes. Can they be applied in Scotland?
“It is really a shared experience and at the same time an expansion of our network to see if we can cast a wider net, to see if we can find talent as well as actually developing it.”
Burnley have sent up Dodgson and Costelloe and they could yet be joined by striker Michael Mellon. Pace explained the reasoning, saying: “It’s better when you can send two or three players to the same club. They can be together and it’s a continuation of their relationship and bonding.
“You can see that with Dara and Owen. We believe doing this can be an easier transition to your next level of playing rather than going off on your own. That cohesion is important to us.”
Bournemouth’s American owner Bill Foley is waiting to see if he will get the green light to invest in Hibs. But Pace is adamant there are no current plans for Burnley or his business AIK Capital to invest financially in Dundee. When asked about the multi-club possibility, he said: “We are way ahead of ourselves on that one. Let’s see how things go.
Multiple clubs are not permitted by the regulations. I am aware that clubs other than our own are also interested in seeing those rules changed. We gave purchasing a team in Europe some serious thought, but the plan was publicly shelved. Although we believe there are chances on the multi-club side, I’m not sure how big of an opportunity that is compared to other things.
READ ALSO: Exclusive: Kompany opens talks to sign forward who left Man City last year
